Harry Potter and the Secret of Sorcery
by fieryfalcon
Summary: Voldemort is dead, but England still convulses under the pureblood movement and an old evil that has returned to threaten the world. H\Hr Rated for frequent graphic violence.
1. Chapter 1 – Splendorous Spoils

After much consideration I have determined that I will be posting the final segment of my three part Harry Potter fanfiction series. The reason for this is the inordinate amount of time that it has taken for me to complete this project. Additionally, I feel that my old policy of waiting until the story is completed before posting in order to prevent issues in smoothing out the storyline is unwarranted at this time with this level of completion. This note is to serve as a notice to everyone reading that it is possible I will have to revise chapters once they have been posted, but I do not foresee any likelihood of that happening. I'm sorry to have kept everyone waiting for so long, but I'm sure everyone will appreciate that priorities in real life have to come first. As I've mentioned before my real world duties include a great deal of technical writing and detailed reading which sap my ability to engage in frivolous writing as much as I would prefer. I hope that everyone will enjoy the forthcoming story. Chapters will be posted irregularly and at greater intervals than normal. Again, to my old readers, thanks for waiting, and to any new readers out there, please browse to my account so you can familiarize yourself with what has gone before. My series begins at the end of the fifth book. Harry Potter and the Bearers of the Light replaces book six. Harry Potter and the Prophecy War replaces book seven. This, the final episode, Harry Potter and the Secret of Sorcery, sweeps up most of the left over plot lines from the two previous episodes. Don't be alarmed if you notice that things are somewhat different than the cannon stories. I've taken the liberty of, ahem, fixing some of the mechanics of magic which I considered illogical in the cannon stories. Explanations for such differences are found within the stories themselves. Now, without further ado or administrative wrangling, I give you…

Chapter 1 – Splendorous Spoils

"Dobby," Harry called out into the empty space inside the dungeon level of Grimmauld Place. He and Hermione had just arrived via portkey from their wedding ceremony at Hogwarts to pick up some supplies.

"Harry Potter sir," Dobby squeaked from behind them.

"Did you get all the things on the list I gave you?" Hermione asked. Her long white cape shimmered slightly with her every movement.

"Yes Lady Potter," Winky said demurely as she appeared next to a misshapen pile of packages. "Winky and Dobby is good elves. We is doing everything precisely to your specifications."

"Dobby is still thinking that Harry Potter should be letting Dobby come along with him on his trip," Dobby said. "Harry Potter is too great to be traveling without his servant."

"Now Dobby, what did I tell you about that servant business?" Hermione said reprovingly.

"You're our friend Dobby, not just a 'servant,' okay?" Harry added. Dobby's eyes getting a little misty like they always did when someone was kind to him. "I know you want to come with us but we really need you to stay here and watch over Grimmauld Place. There's still a remote possibility that someone could try to attack the house and everyone else would need you to keep them safe."

Many of their friends, especially the one's that Death Eater remnants would most like to kill, were continuing to stay at Grimmauld Place for the time being. Tonks and Remus also needed to use the dungeons for their transformation once a month. Ron was of the opinion that Voldemort's followers would behave much like they did at the end of the first war and run away, but there was no sense in taking chances.

"You can count on Dobby and Winky sir!" Dobby said enthusiastically.

"We're going to be erecting barriers where we go to keep out visitors, including mail, so don't worry about us if we're gone for quite a while," Harry said.

"Winky understands sir," Winky acknowledged. "Winky remembers old masters liked to be alone often times."

Harry laid a hand on the pile of packages and furrowed his brow with concentration as he apparated silently away with the objects in tow. A moment later Hermione also disappeared with a swirl of white cape to leave the two little house elves standing alone with less work to do than most house elves would have been comfortable with.

"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked when she arrived. He was breathing slightly hard after the exertion of apparating so much material with him. Apparating one's self was fairly easy since a wizard's body was full of magic, but inanimate objects were much more difficult. Apparating someone else was wholly impossible for a reason Harry didn't quite understand. He didn't like to think about apparation much because the quarks of the process were partly responsible for his parent's death. If they had only been able to apparate him away from Voldemort's attack then there would have been no need for either of them to try and fight the dark wizard.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said, his voice trailing off as he looked around him. They were in the middle of a cavernous dining room. The entire area was aglow with obviously magical lights since no specific source of the illumination could be found. The center of the room was occupied by an elegant long wooden table, but the scene was dominated by the imposing presence of a magnificent chandelier that could only be described as an artwork. The intricate design caught the magical glow and radiated forth the light back out with dazzling effectiveness.

Despite its beauty the young couple knew that they had a serious purpose for being there. Riddle Manor was a huge question mark when it came to assessing the remaining dangers that lurked from Voldemort's activities over the years. Harry and Hermione were so concerned that they felt compelled to disappear indefinitely to deal with the place themselves. The Ministry was too unreliable and Harry didn't want to risk any of the remaining Light Bearers, all of which had suffered in many ways more than him. Harry and Hermione still had each other after all.

"Amazing," Hermione said breathlessly, "Who would have thought that Riddle Manor would be like this?"

"This is the most fabulous mansion I've ever seen," Harry replied. "Even Malfoy's old estate couldn't begin to compare."

A chill ran through the two newlyweds as they continued to examine the room. Outside one of the huge windows they could see a dark shape flittering about nervously. Hermione caught Harry's elbow and together they made their way to the main entrance that was situated just off to the side from the dining room. They hadn't taken five steps out the door before they were confronted by their most fearsome allies.

"We serve the Masters of Undoing," the dementor said hollowly.

"We have taken control of this prize," Hermione said formally. "The dementors here will remove themselves to the perimeter of the grounds surrounding the main house and only approach to inform us if someone attempts to gain entry."

The dementor didn't reply with words, it just jerked its body in what might be considered a nod before gliding away ominously. The icy sensation that had been lurking in the background of the two teen's minds began to recede as the dark creatures put more distance between themselves and the mansion.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the door locked shut behind them with a squelch. Hermione took out her wand and frowned as she considered what their next course of action should be.

"I'm going to put a Fidelius Charm on this place Harry," Hermione said finally. She had dropped the Fidelius protection of the Light Bearers membership since the bulk of the people who were still secreted by the charm had already quit with their identities intact. The spells were difficult to maintain, carried inconveniences, and even some risks, so no one wanted to use them needlessly.

"While you're doing that I'm going to inspect the other spells," Harry said. He was, of course, referring to the other wizarding protections like the unplottable charm that helped hide the location of Riddle Manor. Thankfully those spells, which were typically easier to cast and more durable in the face of attempts to break them, were still relatively strong.

Harry didn't say anything when he finished his check before Hermione had completed the casting of the secrecy charm. The Fidelius was incredibly stressful to cast because its magic could work on the memories of potentially huge numbers of people. It was still amazing to Harry how someone who had known the 'secret' all their lives could have the knowledge forcefully suppressed in such a manner.

"Finally," Hermione murmured as she completed the casting. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get out of these clothes."

Harry grinned and Hermione gave him a coy look. "I know what you're thinking," she said. "First we've got to finish checking this place out."

Harry continued to grin, but nodded in agreement. It wouldn't do for them to be otherwise distracted should unexpected dangers continue to lurk in the expansive estate. Hermione flicked her wand and created two mannequins on either side of the entryway to the dining room. Each one of the conjured statues resembled Harry and Hermione's respective physiques. A quick switching spell later and their stately white garments were on the mannequins. Casual muggle clothing would be far more appropriate for scouring Voldemort's lair.

"This place seems to be set up for showing off," Hermione observed as they moved from one richly decorated scene to another.

"Voldemort certainly wanted to live like a pureblood even if he wasn't one," Harry replied.

"Amazing," Hermione breathed out reverently as they entered what could only be a library. The magically enhanced space of the room easily stretched up five stories from the entrance floor. They walked casually by the first shelf of books and Harry saw countless volumes over things that he had barely even heard of before.

"This must have been cobbled together from many different places," Harry said.

"All the Death Eater homes we destroyed…they must have evacuated their family libraries like Malfoy did," Hermione said. "I'm glad."

"Me too," Harry said. He grinned cheekily at Hermione's expression of wonderment. "Even you will be occupied for a long time by this many books."

"Some of these may even contain unpublished family secrets," Hermione said as she inspected a large red tomb. Pureblood families developed their own magical knowledge and kept it a secret from the larger community when possible. "A few of these books have to be one of a kind."

"We should probably keep moving," Harry said after a few minutes. He knew Hermione well enough to know that she could get sidetracked in a library for hours at a time.

"Wait, we need to check out these doors too," Hermione said. Harry looked to where she was indicating and noticed a set of doors partially hidden behind a bookcase.

"It looks like some kind of study or research alcove," Harry said once they had made their way inside.

"I think more important things than just research went on in here. Take a look at this," Hermione said as she handed him a piece of partially rolled up parchment.

"It's some agreement to meet for further negotiations," Harry said.

"Look there," Hermione said, pointing to a small symbol near the bottom. It was an intricate design that revolved around a sideways eight. "Vampires sometimes use that symbol. It's where muggle mathematics derived the symbol from."

"So Voldemort was planning to ally with vampires?" Harry said, though it wasn't really a question. "I wonder if he managed to."

"That letter is a little old," Hermione said as she shuffled through the other parchments. "There should be something recent that would tell more."

"No question about who sent this," Harry commented as he pulled a huge piece of thick tattered hide out from under the table. Some weird symbols were written on it in shaky script.

"What did the giants say?" Hermione asked casually as she continued to scan over various communiqués.

"They want to be paid for their services in addition to some agreement they already had," Harry said. "At least I think that's what it says."

Hermione had made Harry study about giants and their culture after their encounter with Gwap during fifth year. Giant was pretty easy to understand since the beings were notoriously dull in an intellectual sense. At least when one measured by reading, writing, and technical advance. In other ways, like hunting and fighting, giants were incredibly adept.

"Probably the political rights that Dumbledore was worried that Voldemort would offer them when he sent Hagrid to negotiate," Hermione commented. Harry winced slightly and felt Hermione flinch too through their connection. Hagrid's loss was still a rather rough subject for both of them, especially when he came up in discussion unexpectedly in such a way.

"Here," Hermione said finally. "This letter alludes to some kind treatment that would eliminate some of the side effects of the Nosferatu's curse."

"Er, sorry Hermione, I didn't pay attention when Remus gave us those lessons on vampires," Harry replied, referring to their third year.

"Typical muggle myth stuff for the most part," Hermione said. "Vampires can be killed by wooden stakes to the heart, beheading, or total immolation. The sun causes them great pain and they can't perform much magic even if they were once wizards, though they do have their own brand of vampire magic. They can turn into bats or become incorporeal mist, or at least the stronger ones can. They're pretty weak really, that's why you never see them around much."

"So Voldemort was trying to bribe them into joining him," Harry said. He was continually getting better at digging the point out of Hermione's mini-lectures.

"Seems that way," Hermione nodded. With other people she sometimes tried to tone her intense intellectual prowess to deflect the hard feelings that it sometimes garnered. For some reason others would take her intelligence the wrong way and assume that she was arrogant or something. Even Ron, she remembered painfully, had once called her a nightmare. Harry on the other hand had always been polite about her tendency to 'over achieve' and his admiration of her talents had only grown since their youth.

"Well, they didn't actually do anything so I suppose no harm no foul, right?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I think we should investigate at some point," Hermione replied. "But we shouldn't start anything if they don't. Anyway, did you find something in that stack?"

Harry looked down at the pile of papers in front of him. "Mostly routine reports from Death Eaters, but they're not really helpful since they all seem to use code names."

"If any of those reports detail engagements with Light Bearers we might be able to match names of Death Eater's we've identified to their codenames," Hermione speculated. "Probably not much use at this point though."

"We're going to be looking over our shoulders for disgruntled Death Eaters for the rest of our lives aren't we?" Harry asked unnecessarily.

"Not just Death Eaters," Hermione said lightly. "If you had of ever paid attention in History of Magic you'd know that the wizarding world has always suffered from an excessively loose rule of law."

"I had important sleep to catch up on," Harry retorted, amusement evident in his voice. "Besides, that's what I have you for."

"That's me, walking encyclopedia," Hermione said with a laugh. "We'll come back to the library later when we have more time. For now let's finish looking at everything."

"Good idea," Harry replied. They continued their search until they had been through every room in the mansion. Neither of them was fooled by the mostly innocuous seeming atmosphere though. There was no sign of vital wizarding necessities like potion making or equipment maintenance that Voldemort would have had to do. While it was possible that such activities could be farmed out to other locations it didn't seem likely that he would do so. They also knew from experience that wizards often took care of such things in a dungeon well away from their living quarters.

"There's got to be more to this place than we can see," Hermione said as they reached the opposite end of the house from where they had entered. She pulled out a red tinted eyepiece and Harry did the same so that they could peer through the walls. Hermione's hunch was soon proven correct. Behind a full length mirror in one of the small sitting rooms was a bare stone lined room containing a single gargoyle reminiscent of the guardian that sat in front of the entrance to the Headmaster's office back at Hogwarts.

"I think we can just step through the mirror," Harry said tentatively. He gingerly stuck his left hand into the mirror and it passed through as if the glass were water.

"Now we just need to figure out how to make this guy move," Hermione said as the two newlyweds perched on what was obviously the top stair of a moving spiral staircase.

Harry scrutinized the statue through his eyepiece until he noticed that the ear seemed to be a slightly different 'color' of magical aura. He pulled down on it and was rewarded by a slight rumbling noise of stone on stone movement. Hermione turned and put her back against his as they descended with wands at the ready for whatever they might encounter.

"Now this is more like a dark wizard's lair," Harry said softly as the staircase lurched to a halt. Harry thought idly that it was really less of a staircase and more of a strange elevator since one couldn't actually walk back to the top on a set of stairs, but he supposed it didn't really matter.

"I'll say," Hermione whispered back. "We'd better be careful of dangerous creatures. Anything could have moved in even in the short time since the dementors began guarding this place."

"I don't know," Harry replied as he continued to sweep the area with his eyepiece. "Voldemort seems to have kept the walls sealed tightly against the outside so corporeal creatures would have a hard time getting in here."

"Or getting out of here," Hermione said in a chilled voice as they entered the first room off of the main hallway. The room was filled with several rows of what appeared to be glass cages. Each cage had complex labels and tombs the size of muggle phone books sitting in front of them. Inside the cages were a variety of bizarre creatures that Hermione had never even dreamt of before.

"What was he doing?" Harry whispered as they moved carefully through the isles. They stopped in front of a small cage that contained a midnight black animal with a body roughly the size of a large cat, but with legs that were several times too long and triple jointed. The beast had three oversized claws on each spindly leg that appeared to be suited for digging.

"How are they still alive?" Hermione asked. It had been long enough that starvation should have killed most animals.

"Some of them aren't," Harry replied as he pointed out the rotting carcass slumped in the middle of a nearby cage. Some cages only had a pile of skeletal remains left.

The young couple flinched as the cat monster hissed and bared vampire-like fangs at them. Hermione picked up the tomb sitting in front of the cage and flipped through it.

"A lot of this is in some kind of code," she commented. "It looks like technical specifications for the thing's creation and maybe some observational details."

"Let's gather up some of these books and go," Harry said. "We need to find out what these things can do before we decide what to do with them."

"I suspect they'll all need to be destroyed," Hermione said, but she agreed with Harry's sentiment. Magic and especially magical creatures are too unpredictable to make uninformed action safe.

"The world certainly doesn't need a bloody werecat unleashed on it," Harry said as they closed the door behind them. Hermione quickly drew a fatal seal on the door to hopefully keep anything from getting in or out.

"This place doesn't look much more inviting," Harry commented when they entered what appeared to be an improvised workshop and potions lab. Strange looking devices, many of which were in pieces, were scattered around on the worktables. They were immediately drawn to a huge coffin shaped crystal box that was set up in the middle of the room. Various pieces of parchment were stuck to its surface, which was entirely smooth except for a small raised platform that had three circular indentations in it. Inside the indentations were two blue needles that pointed to different notches imbedded into the surface of the circular spaces. There were twenty-four notches in the first circle, sixty in the second, and sixty in the third.

"This is probably some kind of time measuring device?" Harry speculated.

"That seems the most logical explanation," Hermione agreed. "But what would Voldemort need with a big crystal box with a timer on it. Is something supposed to go inside it?"

"How would you put something in it?" Harry asked. There didn't appear to be an opening.

"Something looks funny," Hermione mused as she scrutinized the object with her eyepiece. "There seems to be a lot of magical energy inside it already."

"Yeah," Harry muttered as he looked closer. Through the eyepiece he could see a small maelstrom of magical energies swirling within the narrow confines of the crystal coffin. Hermione meanwhile continued to look through the notes, some of which were hastily scribbled and not yet put into any code.

"My gosh…" Hermione whispered. "Harry, remember when we made invisibility cloaks during sixth year?"

"Yeah, why?" Harry replied in a confused tone.

"Remember the ones we messed up on, the unstable ones," she continued.

"Er, yeah, what about them?" Harry said.

"This is just like those, only much, much worse," Hermione said. "This is some kind of failed conjuring decompression bomb."

"Bomb!?" Harry exclaimed. "How is that even possible?"

"Well," Hermione began expertly, "A normal conjuring usually fades away after it depletes the magic that sustains it. A permanent conjuring is self-perpetuating so for all intents and purposes it's 'real' as most people understand the concept. Somewhere in between those two extremes is an unstable permanent conjuring. It has the intense magical energies necessary to be self-sustaining, but is otherwise unstable or flawed. All that energy decompresses violently sometimes instead of fading away like a normal temporary conjuring. Voldemort has found a way to trap the energies of those unstable conjures, add them together, and store them for one huge release."

"How big of a release?" Harry asked, now thoroughly concerned.

"Big enough to level everything for several hundred meters around this house," Hermione replied solemnly.

"It's a good thing we stopped him when we did," Harry said grimly. "Who knows what he would have done with something like this."

"I don't think he planned to use it against anyone," Hermione said. "At least not this particular device."

"Huh?" Harry said uncomprehendingly.

"According to these notes the energy storage potential of this thing is far more than it currently holds," Hermione said. "After seeing the creatures in those cages I bet this was some sort of self-destruct to destroy the contents of that lab in case something got loose. Even Voldemort wouldn't have wanted to rule a world filled with uncontrollable magical monsters."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry said. "Still, we should probably think about moving it out of here."

"After we destroy that lab," Hermione reminded. "If something gets loose I want us to keep the option of sterilizing this whole area."

Hermione resumed eagerly flipping through the notes until Harry stopped her. As much as he enjoyed the gleam in her eyes and the bounce of her hair as she engrossed herself in an intellectual pursuit he knew that they needed to hurry up with their sweep of the dungeon. The danger posed by Voldemort's activities was still being determined, but he already knew that it was greater than even he had imagined.

"Looks like just a few more rooms," Hermione said as she adjusted her eyepiece.

"And one big room," Harry said as he pointed his wand at it. A quick flick of his wrist and the large double doors on the main chamber opened with a gust of air and an unimaginably foul odor.

"What was that?" Hermione asked after they both finished throwing up violently from the stench that had blasted out of the room.

"There's only one way to find out," Harry said reluctantly. Hermione nodded and they both cast bubble head charms to preserve a fresh air supply. Harry opened the doors again, but this time no blast of air rushed out of them.

"How horrible," Hermione said softly as they went into the circular room. Torches had flared up magically in reaction to their presence and the grisly contents of the chamber were brightly lit for the two to see.

All around the room half rotted corpses of people were chained shoulder to shoulder. In the center of the room was a symbol that Hermione remembered all too well. It was the soul draining seal that Voldemort tried to use on Harry.

"This is where he brought muggles after they had been treated with the magical enhancing potion to drain them of their lives and powers," Harry said unnecessarily.

Hermione approached one of the least deteriorated bodies and began subjecting it to a variety of exploratory spells. Harry felt his nausea returning and looked away from the ghastly sight. It was one thing to see people dying in battle, but quite another to be surrounded by half decayed bodies. Despite the bubble head charm Harry's memory was providing the smell to accompany the awful sight.

"As near as I can tell they all died just before the attack on Hogwarts," Hermione said finally. "That's pretty much what I expected."

"What should we do with them?" Harry asked. "I can't imagine that we could ever find their relatives."

"No, probably not," Hermione agreed. She began worrying her lower lip like she often did when in thought. "If we turned them over to the muggle authorities it would create too much of a stir. The Ministry would likely end up having to modify memories to smooth things back over."

"Well, we can't just leave them hanging here," Harry said.

"Of course not," Hermione replied. "I suppose we can transfigure them into bones so they'll be easy to transport and then bury them."

"Bloody creepy," Harry muttered as he began transfiguring. He soon realized that he had underestimated the number of people who had died in this single ritual as he worked his way around the room.

"How many did you do?" Hermione asked when they met in the middle.

"Thirty-seven," Harry replied soberly.

"Forty-one here," Hermione said. She flicked her wand and the bones all stacked neatly in the center of the room. Another flick and several black wires wrapped themselves around the bundle.

Harry levitated the bundle and walked slowly back to the spiral stone stairway where they had made their entrance. He supposed that he could apparate, but they were in no hurry and honestly he didn't want to use magic for every little thing like the Weasley twins were apt to do. The feel of Hermione's hands wrapped around his arm as they walked was plenty of incentive too.

"I'm glad to be out of there," Harry said as the sound of stone grinding to a halt could be heard once they were back above ground.

"Yeah, me too," Hermione said. She wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold. Harry draped his left arm around her shoulders and gestured with his wand for the bundle of bones to drift ahead of their slow pace.

"Where should we bury these?" Harry asked once they stepped outside into the oncoming evening.

"Right in front of the house for anyone who wants to see," Hermione said determinedly. She waved her wand to create a shallow hole big enough for the bundle and then followed up with a large tombstone.

'Here Lies Seventy-Eight Unknown Muggles Slain In This Place By The Dark Lord Known As Voldemort'

Harry could tell that the entire affair had created a great deal of melancholy in Hermione because he felt the same sadness within himself. Everything was a constant reminder of how much harm Voldemort had done to so many different people.

"I think its time we unpack and start fixing some food," Harry said as he gently steered Hermione back inside.

"Um, what do you want to eat?" she asked. "I'm not much of a cook."

"Then it's lucky for us that I am," Harry said jokingly. "I thought we could fix some thick stew that we can leave sitting over the fire for days at a time. That way we'll have something easy to eat if someone who shall remain unnamed gets caught up in her work."

Hermione smiled warmly. "Okay, but I am not eating stew for every meal."

"We can always fix something else," Harry said. "I've got some preservation charms that will keep it good for a long time."

Hermione nodded and Harry looked away distractedly. He didn't say it out loud, but Molly had showed him many of her cooking techniques. Her name had the same effect on them that Hagrid's did, but Hermione was the one who always flinched the most. Even when they had gone to Molly right after Arthur's death Hermione had been unable to look her in the eye or even do much to comfort her. Harry knew that Hermione had felt Ginny's death very sharply, but the guilt she felt whenever she was around Molly was almost unbearable. Even though Harry knew that there was nothing Hermione could have done to save the red headed girl and even though Hermione knew that too, intellectually, it didn't stop her heart from wrenching itself out every time she thought about the Weasley matron.

"Plus," Harry continued. "It's only fair that I get to teach you something for a change. After all, I've practically been your apprentice now for years."

Hermione made a slight humming noise in the back of her throat. "Flattery, Mr. Potter," she said suggestively.

"Yes, Mrs. Potter?" Harry bantered back as pleasant thoughts began to push the weight of past sadness out of their minds.

"Mrs. Potter," Hermione repeated thoughtfully. "You know, I really like the sound of that, especially if your cooking talents are as good as advertised."

"Well, here's the place where we'll find out," Harry said. Hermione flitted into the kitchen area and began rummaging about for cooking implements, but her walk suggested something even tastier than food.

"What are you standing around for," Hermione said to shake Harry out of his thoughts. "I'm starting to get _hungry_."

Harry grinned at her and got to work. The things that they had brought with them were all in self contained preservation charms of several different varieties. Wizards had used magic to keep food fresh for many centuries, but it was only after muggles invented refrigeration that anyone thought to modify a freezing spell to create a magical icebox. Harry was sometimes surprised by how backward wizard society was when it came to innovative thinking. Even when muggle technology, like cars for example, was adopted it was always via modification, not through the outright creation of a magical equivalent.

"That wasn't so difficult," Hermione remarked once the finished stew was simmering over the open hearth fire pit that was situated in the middle of the kitchen. Clearly Voldemort had modified the mansion, which was originally built by muggles, to be more suitable to elves and wizards. At least Harry wasn't aware of any muggles who would have an open pit fire place in their kitchen.

"So what do you think of this house as a place to live?" Harry asked.

"Ah, its okay I guess," Hermione replied. "A bit too much extravagance for my tastes though. I'm always afraid of accidentally destroying some delicate fixture. I think I prefer Grimmauld Place to something like this."

"Grimmauld Place has become very comfortable hasn't it?" Harry said in agreement.

"I know I like it a lot more than I did before Dobby gave it a cleaning worthy of an elf," Hermione said. She didn't like elf slavery anymore than she ever had, but she readily admitted that the creatures were unparalleled at their jobs. "I'm not sure when it went from being a creepy old mansion where the Order held meetings to our home."

Harry wrapped an arm around her as they stared into the cooking fire. "My home is where ever you are."

"Yeah," Hermione said softly. "Where ever _we_ are."

Harry felt her squeeze him lightly as she wrapped her arm around him too. He felt his insides glow with warm emotion as he stood there next to her. "Do you think it's ready?" he asked in a light tone of voice.

"You're the master chef," Hermione quipped. Harry lifted the lid and scooped out a moderate portion into two bowls Hermione provided from somewhere. Even though they were pretty hungry neither of them was much in the mood to eat with the memories of Voldemort's sacrifice chamber fresh on their minds.

The long dining room table made it impossible for them to sit across from each other comfortably so rather than conjure a new table they silently decided to eat side by side. Harry felt his emotions run a strange range as his thoughts jumped from one thing to the next. On the one hand he had just waded through mounds of death and dark experiments. On the other he was sitting next to the love of his life and it was supposed to be their wedding night. He could tell Hermione was feeling much like himself without even consulting their bond. Harry knew that she often covered her emotions with some kind of intellectual pursuit and on this night she was obsessing on the details of one experiment after another.

"I'll clean up," Harry said when he saw Hermione was about finished.

"Honestly," Hermione said jokingly. "Are you a wizard or not? I know how to enchant a set of scrubbers to handle dirty dishes if we don't want to just banish the leftovers outright."

The magical community differed over which method was preferable. Some thought that a good scouring charm could remove all traces of whatever one sought to get rid of, but others believed that banishing magic only got rid of the macro particles. In other words a dish cleaned magically might retain harmful bacteria, though until muggle science revealed the nature of bacteria no one had ever considered the issue in those terms. In any event animated brushes and boiling water were just as easy to use as a scouring charm so those who worried about clingy germs still weren't put out with extra work.

"I'm used to doing it the Dursley way," Harry replied with a laugh. The Dursley's were probably missing the magical lifestyle and all the free elf cooked food that came with it, especially since they no longer had Harry to serve as a maid. Even though the Dursley's had, in their own awkward way, attempted to reconcile with Harry after he saved them from a Death Eater attack on Grimmauld Place they were still not very comfortable around anything magical.

"Well, while you're doing things the magical way," Hermione teased. "Why don't you apparate back down to the zoo and grab some of the notes that were sitting out in front of the empty cages. I meant to pick them up on our way back, but I forgot. You can meet me in the room we picked out."

Harry nodded and with a ruffle of his muggle clothes he vanished away in silent apparation. With a Fidelius Charm in place on the old mansion they felt pretty safe about leaving the anti-apparation and portkey inhibition wards disabled. As soon as Harry arrived several of the animals started screeching angrily at him for disturbing them. They had dubbed the place the "zoo" for obvious reasons, but Harry found himself oddly reminded of the time he got to go out to look at creatures on Dudley's birthday right before he found out about his magical heritage. Of course there were no friendly snakes to talk to this time.

"Poor buggers," Harry said under his breath as he rustled through the documents sitting in front of the cages with dead animals. The bones looked like small woodland animals, but Harry could only imagine what they must have been like when they were alive.

The notes were of course in code and labeled with strange symbols. In fact all of the shared a common symbol that looked disturbingly similar to a depiction of the Sorcerer's Stone that Hermione had pointed out to him in a book once. They also shared a sketch of a nasty looking claw that was rendered entirely in dotted lines. Harry finished picking up all the various notes and then counted the number of empty cages again to make sure he hadn't missed any. He counted twice when the number came up one greater than they had counted earlier, but decided that they must have just made a mistake. The bones in each cage had all appeared to be relatively old.

"This is how you must feel," Harry said lightly when he apparated into the room Hermione had picked out for them to stay in while conducting their investigation. It was a smaller room probably meant for guests, but still decorated with expensive artifacts that one could only purchase from the finest magical vendors. "I think there are a thousand pages of notes here."

"That's probably how I usually look too," Hermione said smoothly as she emerged from the bathroom attached to the side of the main chamber. Harry tried to stutter out a response, but all he could do was gape at her like it was the fourth year ball all over again. She had obviously just washed her hair and she was wearing a long one piece white nightgown that was just form fitting enough to achieve tasteful elegant beauty.

"Don't just stand there," Hermione said, her eyes glinting happily as she lifted the stack of papers out of Harry's hands, "Go wash up while I take a look at these. No arguing, I know how bad I was after crawling around Voldemort's dungeon and if you'll recall I let you do some of the dirtiest work."

"Fine," Harry pouted, but it was just for form's sake. The amount of decay they had waded through would qualify a muggle for a week in decontamination. Fortunately their magical genes would resist virtually any known muggle disease that could otherwise be a problem.

"These notes are mostly in code too," Hermione's voice drifted in through the open door as Harry scrubbed himself down. "Some of it is handwritten thought and they seem to have gotten sloppy in a few places. It mentions something about the experiments having a reaction to transfigurations."

"Why would Voldemort want a creature that reacts to transfiguration?" Harry asked. "I can't imagine it would be too useful in combat."

"Conjuring is somewhat like an advanced transfiguration," Hermione said as she began to speculate. "I suppose having something that would attack a conjurer might be a useful distraction. Most of our easiest power spells involve high ended conjuring after all."

"Voldemort was into a lot of stuff that doesn't really make sense considering what his aims where," Harry said. "It's almost like he had another agenda that we never got to see."

"It's possible," Hermione said. "He would've needed some way to occupy his time had he achieved immortality."

Harry put on his pajamas and rejoined Hermione in the main part of the bedroom. "Did you notice this?" Harry asked. He flipped through a few pages and pointed to the two symbols that he had seen earlier.

"That's the Sorcerer's Stone," Hermione breathed.

"That's what I thought," Harry said. He leaned over and swung Hermione's feet into his lap where he could give them a gentle massage.

"Oh," Hermione said gratefully, "I wish I knew how to translate this ridiculous code."

"So do I," Harry said, "But don't you think we've done enough for one day?"

"Just a second Harry," Hermione said distractedly as she compared two different pieces of parchment as if they might just translate themselves for her.

"Hermione," Harry said softly, "We've got all the time in the world. Whatever Voldemort was doing he can't use it now."

"Oh, you're right Harry," Hermione said. She continued in a coy tone. "I just get so distracted. Now what were we going to do?"

She soon remembered what they were going to do as they explored an entirely new sort of magic.


	2. Chapter 2 – A Hermione Day

Chapter 2 – A Hermione Day

Harry emerged slowly from deep sleep on the second morning of their investigation of Riddle Manor when the magical lighting decided to increase itself in what was probably designed to be a pre-programmed wake up call. The first thing he realized was that he was flush up against something very warm; warm skin to be precise and a lot of it. He looked down quickly as the events of the last few hours came rushing back into his sleep fogged brain and saw two large brown eyes staring back up at him.

"You're a very restless sleeper," Hermione whispered.

"So are you," Harry replied. Now that he was awake he seemed to remember getting whacked by the odd hand a few times during the night. Hermione's hair had dried out and puffed out into its usual bushy self too. Harry suddenly felt something cool and metallic touch his skin as Hermione shifted her position somewhat. He caught a glimpse of her charm bracelet.

"So does that thing really work?" he asked.

"I suppose if it doesn't we'll find out before too long," Hermione said with an unconcerned air. "I don't know why it wouldn't though. I followed the instructions correctly."

"And you're certainly powerful enough," Harry added.

"Molly said something about being doubly jealous," Hermione laughed. Not even Molly's name was dampening her mood this morning, "Though that could be because Fred and George had just finished spilling a cauldron of her baked beans."

Harry laughed too as Hermione reached over to the nightstand where they had placed their wands and summoned their goblin wrought flasks from across the room. She twisted the cap so that the magic of the flasks would know to access pumpkin juice.

"I was thinking we could start going over the library in detail today," she said as she took a few drinks and handed Harry his wand.

"I thought you wanted to try and decode those notes from the lab?" Harry said as he took a drink too. He was still amazed at how the goblin made containers managed to preserve their contents so perfectly.

"Hopefully there will be some clue to the code in the library," Hermione said. "Codes were usually used to safeguard documents that had to be removed for whatever reason from the safety of a pureblood family's sanctuary like if they were traveling or something. In order to pass the code onto the next generation there would need to be a guidebook of sorts. Obviously it would be disastrous to a pureblood family if their secrets were lost to their children so they didn't dare pass the code down from memory."

"In case the parents got killed before the kid was old enough," Harry concluded. "How come I've never heard of this before? My dad was pureblood after all."

"Well I heard about it from Fred and George. They were trying to impress me one day when they were bothering me to help them with their joke shop," Hermione said as she got out of bed. Harry's attention was suddenly transfixed on her, but to his disappointment she flicked her wand and switched her clothes onto herself magically.

Harry made a disappointed sound. "I can hear those dirty thoughts all the way over here," Hermione said slyly.

"Magic has turned against me," Harry groaned as he dressed himself with the same spell. "So maybe we can find some of my family's secret documents too?"

"We can try if you want," Hermione said. "Honestly though, your family doesn't seem to have had an extensive estate and your vault certainly doesn't have any such papers in it, I checked. It's possible that they were lost or even that they never existed. Not every family needed to keep such secrets. Most of the ones that did so wanted to keep their own private spells or the locations of their riches a secret."

"Dad's wealth was all in the bank as far as I know," Harry said. "I got the impression that my family was only well to do because there were so few of them. If they had of had a dozen kids like the Weasley's we probably wouldn't have had two knuts to rub together."

"Money isn't everything," Hermione said.

"No, it isn't," Harry agreed as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. They stayed that way for a moment before becoming more focused.

"Everywhere I go in this place I see something I hadn't noticed before," Hermione commented once they were on their way through the expansive halls of Riddle Manor toward the library section.

"I have a feeling we'll be saying that for a long time," Harry said as they entered the library and stared up into its huge magically enhanced space. The ceiling was barely visible from the first floor due to distance and sparse lighting around the upper levels of the room.

"There doesn't seem to be any traps or other surprises," Hermione said. She had put on her eyepiece to give the room another look to confirm that their first inspection of the area hadn't been in error.

"Then I guess we can start anywhere," Harry said. They approached the first set of shelves and started reading the titles. Printed books were generally ignored since they were probably mass produced copies one could find most anywhere. Blank tombs that had then been written in by hand were what they wanted to find most of all since those promised to contain the most sensitive information.

"Here, this one," Hermione said. She handed Harry a thin book with a dull red binding that was obviously faded with time. "Some kind of spell book, but I don't recognize it."

"Strange," Harry muttered as he flipped through a few pages. "These seem to be incantations instead of wand movements."

"Well, we know that you can do most spells with wand movements while omitting the incantation so I suppose it only makes sense you could do a few the other way around," Hermione replied.

"How is the magic focused and channeled without a wand?" Harry asked.

"They're probably weak spells," Hermione surmised.

"Or they require a prepared medium," Harry said as he pointed to a section in the book.

"That could be very useful," Hermione said. Harry continued to read as Hermione went back to her search. He looked up and smiled when Hermione started to unconsciously hum some muggle tune he hadn't heard before.

"This one looks interesting too," she said after a while. The thick blue book was some kind of genealogical survey of several leading pureblood families. Harry didn't bother to look through it. His intellectual curiosity had grown immensely under Hermione's influence, but as of yet it didn't extend past information that he considered to be of practical value.

Before long Harry's arms were starting to get tired from holding an ever increasing stack of dusty old tombs. He conjured a new table resembling that of the main table in the library back at Grimmauld Place to use as a central gathering point so they could keep the books they were pulling down in some kind of order.

The morning passed by quickly for the young couple as they systematically explored a library that they soon confirmed contained the records of many different pureblood families. Some of the books proved to be difficult to manage and a few were completely unwilling to open for them. It was also amusing to discover several different volumes of the same book sitting next to each other, especially when their previous owners had edited the various copies in different ways.

"So what's in this section?" Harry asked. He had just returned from emptying another armload of books while Hermione moved on to the third floor. It was just after noon and they were already nearly half way finished culling the best books for study.

"Foreign language," Hermione said dryly as she held up a thin lime green book. Its title was in a language Harry dimly recognized, probably German.

"Voldemort did supposedly travel the world extensively prior to his bid for power," Harry said. "Someone like him would probably be eager to gain knowledge where ever he could find it. Do we know anyone who can read German?"

"No need," Hermione said. She pointed to a half dozen silver tongue shaped lapel pins sitting on one of the shelves. "Voldemort was thoughtful enough to leave us plenty of Translating Tongues."

Harry picked one up and handed another to Hermione. They both pinned them to their shirts. To Harry's amazement the letters on the book Hermione had shown him morphed into English before his very eyes.

"Practical poisons," Harry read.

"Delightful," Hermione replied dryly as she put the book back on the shelf. Unless they ever needed to assassinate anyone that sort of poison manual wouldn't be very useful.

Overall the foreign books proved to be some of the most interesting, though just how informative they were Harry wasn't sure. There were scores of books describing dragon riding, the history of the great continental wars in stunning battle by battle detail, and several books on subjects considered magical myths. Hermione commented jokingly at one point that they had discovered Luna's secret stash of literature.

"All right, last floor," Hermione said wearily. Amazingly the library had proven to be too big even for her. It hadn't helped that they had taken several breaks during the day, but neither of them were complaining about those. Harry shook his head with wry humor as Hermione set to work on the first row of books. Only Hermione Granger, now Potter, would feel so romantic in a dusty library.

"This place needs some light," Harry said. He pulled out his wand and held it like a torch. The cone of gentle light that spilled out of its tip illuminated the whole area around them comfortably.

"Harry, this is what we wanted," Hermione said excitedly. "Pureblood family secrets… Some of these writings are so old that they're in scrolls instead of tombs."

"All the usual suspects," Harry said. "Black, Goyle, Macnair, Malfoy, Nott…"

"Oh my," Hermione said with a hushed tone as she stared down at a faded red book. In large gold lettering was the name Weasley accompanied by a large intricate family crest.

"How in the world did this end up in here?" Harry asked. "Ron never mentioned any such thing as this existing."

"Well we never really talked about anything like this," Hermione replied. "Ron might not even know that it existed anyway. From the looks of this there's no telling how long it has been outside Weasley family control."

Neither of them said anything out loud, but they were both thinking that perhaps the less than prestigious state of the Weasley lineage, at least from the perspective of most purebloods, might be partially the result of the loss of such an important artifact. Hermione opened the book and began reading the long flowing script of hand written information.

"The family tree stops in the middle of the seventeenth century," Hermione commented as she continued to turn pages. "There are sections on spells, potions, family homes and hiding places."

"What kind of spells?" Harry asked curiously. He came around behind Hermione and looked over her shoulder at the text.

"Not just spells, a fighting style," Hermione said. "It looks like much of the style is based around a series of inversion spells. Here, these pages outline the most common applications for combat."

"Inversion spells?" Harry said thoughtfully. He had never seen any of the Weasley's use anything at all similar to the spells detailed by the book. The inversion spells were described as a type of subtle transfiguration that altered the fundamental nature of the material in question. A heavy hard rock could be rendered light and soft. One favorite tactic described with several variations took light weight dull material like leaves or feathers and turned them into heavy razor sharp projectiles.

"These spells are very powerful," Hermione said. "It isn't that what they do is novel when it comes to the limits of magic, but they accomplish their task swiftly and in conjunction with other spells."

"So you can cast another spell and invert its effects all at the same time without your opponent realizing it," Harry said.

"Exactly," Hermione replied. "Plus, there are scores of ambient detection spells here. Molly always did say that the Weasley family was originally legendary for their skill and power."

_It had been just a short period of time following the final defeat of Voldemort when Harry and Hermione had apparated back to Grimmauld Place to find a distraught Molly sitting in front of the body of her fallen husband. Bill and Charlie were there trying to comfort her as she protested his death as if a compelling enough case could reverse an outcome that had already been decided._

"_He didn't even fight Him," Molly sobbed. She looked up at Harry and Hermione as they entered the room. "Arthur was so strong; as long as it wasn't Him he should have been okay. He promised me he'd be okay."_

"_You know how he was mum," Bill said. "He probably tried to do more than he was able to if it meant helping out someone else."_

"_It was such chaos," Harry said gently as he sat down in a nearby chair. He and Hermione had been handed a garbled report from the same Light Bearer that had managed to bring Arthur's body back. "Anything can happen in a battle like that."_

"_No, you don't understand," Molly said with a strained voice. "Even you Bill, none of you understand, Arthur never showed it but he was an incredibly capable wizard. He didn't like fighting, but he was still so very strong. Until I met Albus I didn't think there was anyone who could best him."_

"_No one can survive if enough enemies gang up on them," Charlie said grimly. "Happens all the time with dragons... The weaker ones team up against the strongest before turning on each other."_

"_I'll never believe it," Molly said, pride evident in her demeanor. "No, someone powerful killed him and I know who it was. That worm Malfoy, he hated Arthur so much he had to be involved somehow."_

"_Mum, I know the feud, but that was a long time ago," Charlie said. "Besides, we've got no evidence anyway."_

"_I don't need evidence," Molly said. Then she continued in a lighter tone after another thought popped into her grief stricken mind. "There's nothing we can do about it though. I won't have you boys getting into trouble over this. Arthur would die a second time if I let any of you bring harm down on yourselves just for revenge."_

_Charlie looked like he was about to protest some more but Bill broke in. "I think Mum's right Charlie. We may have lost our prestige during our war with the Malfoy's, but they lost almost their entire lineage. I'm sure Lucius would take any opportunity possible to see harm come to us."_

"_I don't know what we can do," Hermione said slowly, almost hesitant to break into the conversation, "But if we can uncover Arthur's killer we will."_

"_Thank you," Molly said, "I know I should refuse, goodness knows you both have suffered enough already, but I can't. All I can say is thank you."_

Harry gritted his teeth slightly as he remembered Molly's anguished look. He had considered both of them like parents to him after all that they had done on his behalf over the years. From the conversations that had followed they gathered that Arthur had been trained in what remained of the Weasley family fighting style, but that by the time he had been taught much of the knowledge had been lost over the years. If Lucius knew Arthur's moves better than he himself then how much easier would if have been for the elder Malfoy to overpower the Weasley patriarch. The book sitting in front of them could have saved his life and if Molly was right about Lucius being Arthur's killer then it also very likely played a role in ending it.

"We need to return this to Ron as soon as possible," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"We can't," Harry replied. "If we returned it now everyone would know what we're doing. The whole point of this was to get it over with without anyone suspecting our preoccupation. Plus, who knows how long this book has been here and what secrets the dark forces may have uncovered from it. We need to study it before we hand it over."

"I guess not," Hermione agreed reluctantly. "I just, I don't know, I feel like they've been through so much that maybe if we gave them this it would help them get in touch with their heritage, with Arthur, a little bit more."

"And we will give it back as soon as possible," Harry said soothingly. He grinned and wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist to give her a little squeeze. "It won't take a certain bookworm I know very long to go through it."

Hermione smiled back and made an 'Hfmph' noise. "Maybe I'll make the bookworm's apprentice do it for her," she said jokingly.

"The 'apprentice' is already worn out by some very unscholarly lugging that he's had to do all day," Harry replied. True to his word he grabbed up the last stack of books that they had picked out, including the Weasley family book, and led the way back to the first floor of the library.

"Here Harry," Hermione said once he had sat the stack down, "You look like you need a massage."

Harry sat down on one of the chairs and leaned forward so Hermione's small hands could work their way across his shoulders. Her unusually long fingers, one of the hallmarks of a great wizard for some unknown reason, were exceptionally adept at their task thanks in part to all the precise manipulation of a wand over the years.

"I could get used to being a lowly pack mule," Harry joked as she moved on down to his lower back.

"Don't get too used to it," Hermione cooed in his ear, "I expect my feet to get a little payback in a few minutes."

"I'm not sure I can put up with another hundred and fifty years of nightly foot rubs," Harry said with a fake moan.

"I'm sure you'll manage with the right motivation," Hermione said. Harry closed his eyes to savor their long deserved and nearly as long postponed closeness that they could now share whenever it pleased them. When they opened again he saw a strange looking metallic spider nearly a foot long was crawling along the floor toward them.

"What is that," Harry said slowly. His hand moved to his wand in a deliberate unobtrusive way in hopes that the thing, whatever it was, wouldn't detect the threatening gesture.

"I don't know," Hermione replied. All the softness evaporated in an instant, replaced by the steel of the most feared and powerful witch of the Prophecy War. Harry felt the cool smooth polished surface of her wand against his neck as she pointed it toward the strange object. Before they could cast any spell one of the spider's spindly silver arms dug around inside its abdomen and produced a bright red feather.

"Is that one of Fawkes' feathers?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"It could be," Hermione said, still wary. She approached the thing, her wand glowing threateningly, to take a closer look. "There's a piece of parchment in here."

"What does it say?" Harry asked.

"Our presence is requested," Hermione replied, holding the brief note up. "It looks like Dumbledore's handwriting all right."

"How on earth did it find us here?" Harry asked. "We do have a spell on this place preventing anything from locating us via magic after all."

"I'm surprised that Dumbledore could pull off something like this with his current handicap," Hermione said. The aged former Headmaster of Hogwarts had been reduced to little more than the power level of a squib following his near fatal duel with Voldemort.

"He has always been surprising when one least expects it," Harry said. He and especially Hermione had many differences with the Headmaster in the past, but they had a sense of reconciliation after the end of the Prophecy War. They also had a deep sense of respect for Dumbledore's abilities as a wizard. In truth, his ability to function so well in the magical world so as to hide his malady from most other wizards was a testament to how great a wizard he was. Only one as knowledgeable in the nature of magic as Dumbledore could continue to act like a wizard despite having almost no power.

"So do we assume that it actually is Dumbledore and go?" Hermione asked. Her question brought Harry back to the fiery red feather still being held up by the metallic spider. Fawkes had been an important part of Dumbledore's power prior to being stripped of his own magic, but now it was the focal point of his continued abilities. Fawkes' vanishing skill, its own defenses, and its uncanny ability to sense what Dumbledore wanted without any visible communication showed that it had long since reached the peak of a familiar's potential power. Harry knew a little bit about this kind of familiar relationship, but his own partnership with Hedwig was still far away in comparison.

"We can't just leave this thing here unattended," Harry said. "It might be more dangerous than it appears."

"Well we can't take it with us," Hermione said. "If it could find us then whoever sent it might be able to find it too. It would be a disaster if it wasn't sent by Dumbledore and we led someone to Meadow Down."

"Then I'll stay here and watch it while you apparate to Meadow Down," Harry said. Hermione frowned slightly and worried her lower lip. Harry seemed to be trying to make up for all the times when he put his safety ahead of hers for the sake of the prophecy by insisting on doing everything that was even slightly dangerous.

"All right, I won't be long," Hermione agreed. She supposed that if their roles were reversed she would be trying to do the same thing. Hermione concentrated for a second and then found herself in the middle of a sizable metropolis surrounded by strange buildings that twisted up from the ground like melted or deformed pottery.

Taking out her wand from habit Hermione started to walk slowly through the eerily deserted streets. She hadn't gotten very far when there was a flash of fire and feathers directly in front of her.

"Hermione, cautious as ever I see," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I assume my message finally found you."

"So you did send that…thing," Hermione replied.

"Yes, though I'm somewhat surprised it took so long to find you," Dumbledore said. Hermione felt a slight change in the pressure of the air as Harry appeared next to her holding the spider tentatively in one hand. "I suppose the two of you ignored my advice and went to secure the Riddle mansion?"

"Like we could leave a place filled with such dangerous things sitting about for longer than necessary," Harry replied.

"So why did you ask us to come here?" Hermione asked before any further argument could erupt. Admiration aside, Harry had become pretty adamant about not letting Dumbledore's advice dictate his actions since sixth year.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Let's go inside and I'll tell you everything."

Harry tossed the spider down and watched it skitter to Dumbledore's side as they made their way toward the city's central spire. It followed behind him like a lost puppy until they reached the entrance. Hermione shrugged as the strange magically animated creature took up guard at the door once they had gone inside. Harry supposed that it was just another device Dumbledore had to replace his lack of magic.

The inside of the building was a complete contrast to the outside. Where as the external parts of the city were dusty, abandoned, and a bit intimidating the interior was warm, inviting, and had the appearance of habitation except for the total lack of people.

"The structures in Meadow Down all maintain themselves somewhat like Hogwarts does," Dumbledore said as if he read their minds. "Without any people to accelerate the accumulation of clutter the buildings can apparently stay like this even without house elves. It's really most remarkable."

"So you've investigated the city thoroughly then?" Harry asked.

"Hardly," Dumbledore replied. "It would take me many years to accomplish that, but I have managed to learn a few things from this tower, which I believe was likely a central place of management. Unfortunately, most of the records that would have been stored here have been moved, destroyed, or otherwise hidden, no doubt due to the war."

"You mean the war that wiped all of your people out?" Hermione said, attempting to get Dumbledore to go into more detail.

"The timeline of the war is one of the few records that are plentiful," Dumbledore said. "The translations are slow and difficult, but so far it appears that the conflict was between two cities and that it lasted for a very long time, perhaps generations."

"How could any war last so long?" Harry asked. "This place isn't that big. Surely they would have killed each other off long before generations passed."

"On that account the record is vague," Dumbledore said, "or perhaps I haven't gotten to those documents yet. However, I suspect that the 'war' was more of a long standing hostility than an outright battle."

The maroon walls of the tower suddenly changed color to a sea green thatch work pattern that looked spongy to the touch as they entered what appeared to be a nexus of stairways not unlike Hogwarts except that they were spiraled instead of slanted. Dumbledore selected one of the stairways and started descending.

"We're going to go down to the room I call the vault," Dumbledore said. "It was probably built as a place to store sensitive materials or maybe to shelter non-combatants. I'm hoping the two of you can help me experiment on it sometime. I doubt anyone can apparate in or out of it, but obviously I'm at a loss to test that theory as things stand."

"Of course Professor," Hermione said politely. "We're curious too. This place is a marvel of magical construction. I can hardly even believe that it exists."

"Is this it?" Harry asked once they left the stairway area and encountered a thick slate gray doorway.

"Further in," Dumbledore murmured. "This is just the first barrier."

Almost immediately another thick door materialized out of the increasing darkness as they went deeper into the passage. Oddly enough the barriers did not seem to be made of metal, but instead some kind of bumpy substance that looked like hardened clay.

"We are deep enough now," Dumbledore said once they'd passed the third barrier. "I did not feel comfortable speaking of this before, however I no longer really have any choice."

Dumbledore led them into a large oval chamber scattered about with various odds and ends that Harry had never seen before, nor could he devise their function from their appearance. From a pile of books Dumbledore picked up a thick tattered journal that was bound in leather and wrapped around with a thin cord. A radiant sun symbol overlaid with an eye decorated the front.

"This is the complete journal of Nicholas Flamel," Dumbledore said as he turned to them. "It contains all his research on the Sorcerer's Stone and now it is yours."

"You're giving us the secret to the stone?" Hermione blurted out. Harry knew his own expression must have mirrored Hermione's shocked look.

"I'm no longer capable of guarding it," Dumbledore explained. "Nor would I be able to wield the power of the stone should the necessity arise. Flamel thought that the stone's power should be entrusted to the greatest wizard of each age and now I'm afraid that this burden must fall to the two of you."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked in a confused tone. "Wield the stone?"

"You mean the Elixir of Life?" Hermione added quizzically.

"The Elixir is a powerful component, but it is not the stone's true function," Dumbledore said. "There is a reason that it is also called the Sorcerer's Stone and not just the Philosopher's Stone like in the muggle version of the story. Due to the stone's unusual properties it acts as a focal point for magic much like a wand, but unlike a wand it extends that energy focusing potential to the person directly."

"You mean…it allows for internal focus of one's magic instead of external focus through the wand?" Hermione asked. Harry blinked owlishly as he tried to keep up with them.

"More or less," Dumbledore said. "The effect is known as alchemic sorcery."

"As opposed to what?" Harry asked.

"Natural sorcery of course," Hermione replied.

"Yes, natural, or organic sorcery, is very rare, but very powerful," Dumbledore continued. "It is the kind of ability that only arises a few times within all of history, but it is nonetheless a dangerous ability because those who are gifted with it obtain powers unfathomable even to most wizards. Those who are true sorcerers are nearly as far beyond a normal wizard as a wizard is beyond a normal human."

"That is unsettling to say the least," Harry said.

"In the distant past whenever a sorcerer arose he generally did pretty much whatever he wanted to," Dumbledore said. "You can imagine what problems that could cause."

Harry and Hermione didn't need to imagine. It was exactly what Voldemort wanted to become, an unstoppable terror that could shape the world in his own image.

"Thankfully, natural sorcery lacks the life giving powers of the stone," Dumbledore continued. "Though such individuals enjoyed a life span several times as long as a wizard they would eventually die. However, when Nicholas developed the stone and discovered its full potential he realized how it could protect us against sorcerers with evil intentions."

"So you want us to recreate the stone and protect the world should an evil sorcerer appear?" Hermione asked dryly.

"It isn't a hypothetical scenario," Dumbledore said. "Two sorcerers of immense power were born over a hundred years ago. Nicholas faced them in combat and with the help of the stone he was able to extract a settlement between them. Unfortunately that settlement was based in large part on their fear of someone again using the stone against them. Unbeknownst to the sorcerers Nicholas was severely wounded in the exchange and forced to use the panacea of the Elixir in order to stay alive."

"They don't know that the stone was destroyed," Harry guessed.

"It doesn't seem likely," Dumbledore said. "The sorcerers went into hiding and no one knows who or where they are anymore. After the stalemate against Nicholas they vanished entirely from this world and to be honest they were not prominently known even before that. Unlike Voldemort their ill will was discovered early and confronted before they could establish themselves."

"And now you're worried they may discover that there is no stone and try to, what, take over or something?" Hermione asked.

"In olden times sorcerers used the world as their plaything," Dumbledore said. "Some even believe that they used their powers to change people and things, that they may have created things like the dementors to do their will. No one really knows of course, but if a sorcerer intends harm it would be childishly easy for them to inflict it. A defense is an absolute necessity."

"Why us?" Hermione asked suddenly. "Surely there are others as suited to this as we."

"The stone can only magnify a power," Dumbledore said. "In the hands of a weak wizard it would have no effect as a power amplification device. You and Harry are the only two individuals strong enough to use the stone that I would trust with its power. Even in the Ministry only a couple of the top hit wizards would be potential candidates. Surely you both realize your own strength by now?"

Harry looked away slightly. "Our last battle with Voldemort did not leave us without afflictions," Hermione said.

"Do not worry," Dumbledore said in a kindly, grandfatherly voice. "The panacea of the stone also works to heal the magical aura of a wizard so long as it is not permanently destroyed. My powers may be beyond help, but you and Harry will likely be more fortunate."

Hermione's eyes lit up brightly at that statement. Not only could she heal the grievous injury to Harry's arm that he incurred against the dementor, but his power, which had been diminished, would also likely be restored as well. She reached out and accepted the journal that Dumbledore held with great care. The ancient book looked like it was sturdy, but she didn't want to take a chance.

"A word of caution though," Dumbledore said. "Nicholas' methods were somewhat erratic. I have not reproduced the stone by these instructions, which are actually more of a log, and so I cannot guarantee that they will be without any error. For the sake of safety I had as little to do with the actual knowledge of how to make the stone as possible. After all, one cannot divulge secrets one does not know."

"We'll get started on this right away," Hermione said eagerly, almost as if she didn't hear him.

"On other thing," Dumbledore said. "Might I ask where you intend to attempt this at?"

"Well, I suppose…Riddle Manor," Hermione said. She looked over to Harry for his opinion.

"We've investigated it pretty well and it seems safe," Harry conceded. "We've also secured its location under a Fidelius charm and we can always add additional security before we start doing anything."

Dumbledore's face was an inscrutable mask. "Tom's old headquarters is probably the last place anyone would look for either of you right now," he said quietly.

"We also have dementors guarding the grounds," Hermione said. Dumbledore's eyes glinted, but he nodded. Hermione gripped her wand and a small piece of paper appeared.

"This is Riddle Manor's location, just in case," Hermione said. Dumbledore took the paper, scanned it briefly, and then nestled it into Fawkes' feathers where it burst into flame an instant later.

"There are many other things in Nicholas' journal besides details on how to construct the stone," Dumbledore said as they began the journey back to the surface. "Information such as methods on its use, spells that can only be accomplished with the aid of alchemy, and other such instructions. Take them for what you will, but remember that to truly master the stone you must train yourself. The stone behaves differently for each person who uses it."

"Have you ever used the stone?" Harry asked, spurred by the tone of Dumbledore's voice.

"Yes," he said softly. "Once before, unnecessarily it seems, during my great war."

Harry glanced at Hermione with surprise at how the elderly former headmaster spat out those last two words. The small group fell into silence again for the rest of the distance to the surface.

"Thank you," Hermione said simply once they were back, the journal tightly clutched in her hands. Harry nodded and voiced his thanks as well as they shimmered away in silent apparation.

* * *

AN: To Raven, who left a message on the Prophecy War review page regarding the use of "all Harry and Hermione's magic" for some spells and yet them retaining capability thereafter for further magic usage: When I refer to someone using all their magic think of it as a muscle rather than an exhaustible pool. If you use all your muscles, or all your strength, to lift something it doesn't mean that you've used all your bodily strength such that you must collapse jellyfish-like for some time thereafter to recover, but rather that you put your entire capability into performing the function desired. I treat magic in much the same way; an individual may exert themselves fully multiple times, but they will become exhausted from those efforts just as a weight lifter exhausts their strength after many hoists of the iron.

I did try to include some of the actions of people other than Harry and Hermione, if not explicitly, then at least as narrator style referencing. However, it was difficult to do much of that and keep the pace of the story moving forward. You may or may not be pleased with this story as several key events revolve around secondary individuals.

Dark magic, well, it's a tricky thing. I will say that it is somewhat important that Harry and Hermione use the dark arts, but at the same time it is largely inconsequential to them as individuals, at least as far as their personalities are concerned. I tend to believe, as a (I hesitate to say philosophical) matter of logic, that power is simply power. What makes power good or evil is how it's used. I don't follow this rule rigidly in this story though. As to how far I will take the corrupting influence of power…we'll all just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave a review. I hope my response is satisfying and addresses your comments in a way that is useful or at least enjoyable.


	3. Chapter 3 – The Key Is Blood

Chapter 3 – The Key Is Blood

"These chanted spells are really disappointing," Harry said lazily as he yawned and got up off of the sofa he had been sitting on for the last hour. "Most of them are redundant or we can use them without the incantation too."

Hermione made a distracted 'hmm' noise without looking up from her workbench. A few seconds later his words finally caught up to her busy mind. "I told you to quit reading it," Hermione said humorously. "Here, read this one instead, then you can finally help me build these."

Harry plucked the spinning book out of her levitation charm and flipped it open. The first chapter was nothing but the author droning on and on about his research technique, how long it took him to discover the right process, and how many other wizards, many of them listed by name, had said what he wanted to do was impossible.

"Does this guy ever make a point or does he just go on forever about how great he is?" Harry asked as he delved straight into the second chapter and found much of the same sort of talk.

"As I recall it's about half and half," Hermione said. She held up a small opaque ball and examined it closely. A tiny tongue of flame erupted from it and engulfed the sphere, but it did not burn her fingers. "I think I'm getting close."

"So what other kind of spells can we construct?" Harry asked as he idly leafed through the pages without reading them. Every once in a while he would stop to examine a diagram more closely. One of the side effects of the extensive, intensive, study of magic that he had engaged in for the last two years was that learning new skills had become much easier. Magic had a tendency to follow similar paths with only a few deviations necessary for stark differences in outcome.

"Well, in theory just about any kind, but the more complex the spell the more power necessary to keep it tied to the physical world," Hermione said. "Hopefully when we finish the Sorcerer's Stone we'll have far more options."

It had been a few weeks since they received the secrets of the Sorcerer's Stone from Dumbledore and had set about to resurrect Nicholas Flamel's creation. First they had gone over the entirety of Riddle Manor again with the most thorough inspection they could muster to make sure that there were no hidden dangers. Once satisfied with any internal threats to the stone they had tried to address concerns of being infiltrated from some renegade Death Eater despite the powerful spells hiding the mansion's location.

Harry had smugly declared the wards guarding Riddle Manor comparable to the protections on Hogwarts. Hermione had blushed, since most of their design, function, and power had come from her, but refused to go that far, instead pronouncing them 'adequate' for their purposes. The dementors, who never tire nor grow bored, had been commanded to form a solid ring around the premises of the estate's grounds. Many more floated far above the ground ensuring that even if something managed to penetrate the mansion itself it would be impossible for such a breach to go unnoticed.

Then, once they had spent several exhausting days securing the mansion, they had been faced with countless more tedious days of trying to begin the first and most difficult stage of the creation process for the Sorcerer's Stone. Even now Harry could feel the dull pain of chronic magical fatigue beating like a drum on the inside of his bones. It was made worse by the fact that they had been forced to restart the process, on more than one occasion, because the complexity was such that even Hermione made mistakes despite the guidance of the journal.

Even worse, they still had no idea how to finish the stone in its entirety. Dumbledore had forgotten to mention one final quark of Flamel's journal. It had some kind of spell woven into it that prevented anyone from reading all of it at once. If one read too far the words would become blurry until it the reader could no longer continue. They had tried to cheat by reading aloud and taking turns, but the book hadn't allowed that. Surprisingly, even when reading silently the spell would prevent them from taking turns. Hermione had quickly surmised that it must be because of their mental bond the spell couldn't tell the difference between them or perhaps when someone started reading the book demanded that it only be read a section at a time regardless of who was to do the reading.

"So is it time for the next section yet?" Harry asked. He sat the book Hermione had given him down on a nearby table and went to sit beside her. After all, he could probably learn the new technique just as well or better from watching her than by reading the ramblings of the wizard wrote the book hundreds of years ago.

Hermione picked up the journal and studied it for a moment. The words were hazy at first, but after a few seconds they took on shape and form as the spell decided to allow her to continue.

"It's another section of Flamel recounting important events," Hermione said as she glanced ahead. Some sections of the journal contained instructions on how to construct the Sorcerer's Stone. Scattered amongst the instructions were various important events, mostly revolving around Flamel's battle with two young sorcerers.

So far they had read about how Flamel had tried repeatedly to counter the sorcerers with the stone in a series of stalemated battles across Europe during the turn of the century. Already an old man when he first created the stone, Flamel had nonetheless carried on in his immortality for hundreds of years. The gap in experience between him and the sorcerers made up for a gap in power that leaned in the opposite direction. Harry sat forward with rapt attention as Hermione began to speak.

_June 8, 1908 – I was pursued across Europe for many weeks in what had become one unending battle. The young sorcerers, whose faces I have yet to see despite our many encounters, are fearsome opponents, but at last their inexperience has caused them to fall into my hand. Above a frozen forest devoid of human life I could finally unveil the full extent of the Sorcerer's Stone. They believed that they had taken me by surprise and I think that they persisted in that belief until the end of the battle. _

_Unlike our prior skirmishes there was no probing of each other's readiness, nor any cautious expectations of a trap, just devastation. I shielded myself as best I could, though my body quickly became tattered from spells until I was kept alive only by the Elixir of Life and the magic of the stone itself. The two sorcerers attacked with the full extent of their powers and I responded in kind. There was a flash of white light, the spells we used I can no longer even recall, but their interaction with each other left the landscape in turmoil. The forest was a flattened burning husk for many miles in each direction around the site of our battle. I was even more grievously injured than the sorcerers, but by using the Elixir of Life I was able to put on an appearance of vitality that fooled them into thinking I had the power to destroy them if I so desired. I offered them their lives in exchange for their oath to never again seek to dominate those around them with their powers. They agreed, thankfully, and limped away, but I knew within myself that the bulk of my power had been broken to the point that it might never recover. I had for some time exceeded the amount of power that is allowed to humans, at least to this one, through my manipulation of my body by alchemy._

_I was too exhausted to conjure a portkey or apparate back to England so I made my way to a nearby muggle town called Kirensk to recover. The people there were in an uproar having witnessed a fireball in the distant sky and felt the shock waves of our colliding magic. They were kind though and tended to my injuries without asking too many questions about my strange style of dress or how I came to be in the woods with whatever flimsy explanation I gave. Though I am hopeful for the longevity of the bargain which I have struck with the sorcerers I fear that at least one of them may not be of a sane mind. I must hurry back to England as soon as possible to contact a promising wizard I know and have worked with before. He is currently slated as next in line to teach transfiguration at Hogwarts and now I must convince him to take up another responsibility…_

"He's talking about Dumbledore," Harry said. Hermione nodded that this was most likely the case and then skipped down a few lines to continue. While they didn't routinely skip much of the journal there were some entries that were too mundane to bother reading out loud.

_Now the alchemic process should be reaching its most critical phase when the final component must be added to induce the compression of the liquid crystal. The process should have by now yielded enough vapors, once condensed, to fill a standard beaker…_

"This is more instructions Harry, we'd better go check the cauldron," Hermione said. Her eyes continued to dart across the text in the journal as they moved to the room that they had set up their alchemy lab in.

Harry examined the bizarre collection of glass piping that had been cobbled together from Flamel's directions to capture and condense the vapor that was rising off of a giant black cauldron. In fact there were two identical sets sitting side by side since they were trying to make a stone for each of them. The thick bubbly substance in the cauldrons was greenish black, but the vapor that rose off of it was as clear as the purest water when condensed back into a liquid. Two beakers of the clear fluid had been collected and were sitting on small stands next to the cauldrons awaiting the final ingredient. Hermione began reading again.

_A last word of caution to those who successfully complete this process…the power of alchemic sorcery is one not given to mortals, or even to most of the immortals of this world. The Sorcerer's Stone is a power that even the kindest of mages will be tempted to use for their own glory, it is a wealth that even the most pious will lust for within their own hearts, because the Sorcerer's Stone, when truly created by one's own hand, is a part of them and they a part of it. The final component is blood._

Hermione looked up at Harry with wide eyes, no longer able to continue aloud. He leaned closer to her and looked down at the faded words.

_Anyone who obtains the stone may use its powers of immortality and panacea, but only the creator may wield its full potential. Through many trials I have discovered these secrets of the stone, but even I remain naïve in its ways. The use of the stone may grind down mountains to dust and scatter your foes before you, but its power is not unlimited. Discovering the limitations of the stone is just as important as its strengths. Through my trails I have determined that the increase in power is mostly through a process of increasing the efficiency of a person's natural power similar to, but more effective than, that of a wand. It is my most sincere hope that the use of this stone will always be a reluctant sacrifice rather than an eager undertaking for I fear the consequences for the world should the latter be the case…_

Below the last paragraph was a diagram that indicated how much of the unformed liquefied stone should be stored up and how much blood that one should add to the mixture to start the completing reaction. Harry glanced at Hermione with some trepidation before conjuring two long thin silver blades and handing her one.

"No choice," Hermione said. She licked her lips nervously and put her finger over the center of the container. Harry did likewise also realizing that they really didn't have any choice, assuming Dumbledore's worries were accurate, and stuck the blade into his finger. A large drop of blood welled up and dropped into the container, followed by a second, then a third. A quick healing charm was all it took to stop the flow once enough had fallen into the clear liquid.

"So the color of the stone isn't just red," Harry said softly as he leaned in close to observe the reaction, "It's the color of blood."

"Yeah," Hermione said, her eyes glimmering as she stared at the blood intruding deeper into the concentrated liquid of the unformed stone.

"It's almost like I can feel it forming," Harry said. His eyes focused on the reddish cloud that was expanding magically throughout the container until it was entirely diffused. Then the red liquid began to slowly form tiny droplets too thick to be held in suspension. Already a tiny film of particles was beginning to form on the bottom of the container as the stone began to solidify itself.

"Amazing," Hermione said breathlessly. "Think of all we can learn from this stone's power."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"With the stone enhancing our powers we can attempt spells that would be otherwise impossible," Hermione said eagerly. "Even more, we can conduct all kinds of experiments with the aid of the panacea, even experiments that would normally be fatal. We can endlessly push the knowledge of magic past the bounds that anyone has so far conceived of."

"Hermione," Harry said slowly, "Maybe we shouldn't use the stone…"

Hermione's eyes focused on him again, as she suddenly became aware of his apprehension due to their link. "What are you talking about? This is an opportunity only a handful of people have ever had." Hermione said finally.

"Yeah, but that's the problem," Harry said. "Flamel didn't just come straight out and say that the stone was dangerous, but he came awful close, too close for my tastes. What if we start experimenting with it, using its powers and we get addicted or something?"

"Flamel gave it up when the time came," Hermione argued. Of course they didn't know that for sure. Dumbledore had indicated that Flamel made the decision on his own, but it was always possible that the once powerful headmaster had added in a little _persuasion_ of his own.

"But why take the risk?" Harry replied. "Hermione, we don't need to do this kind of thing anymore. Voldemort's gone and I don't want to end up like Flamel…outliving all our friends and…how would we even consider ever having a family?"

Hermione felt like an icy spike had driven itself through her heart as she took in his words. Her eyes traveled down to the bracelet on her left arm and imagined how it would feel to know she could never take it off. If they used the immortality of the stone then they could never have a family. If they did they would be faced with the choice of either making their kids immortal or else outliving them too and that was something no parent would ever consider. The problem would snowball from there as each generation piled up endlessly, the natural order broken, and that might have an effect beyond the obvious drawbacks. Using magic to change such a fundamental part of the world's order might potentially result in calamity beyond their ability to predict.

"I…you're right," Hermione said finally. Her eyes darted back to the still forming stone. "We'll have to find some place where we can safely store the stones after we've finished extracting enough Elixir for its medical applications and become accustomed to the magic enhancing properties."

"We'll also need to watch, like Dumbledore apparently has, for someone to whom we can pass off the secrets of the stone to," Harry said.

"We've got a long time before we need to worry about that," Hermione said. "At least we better."

"Don't worry," Harry chuckled lightly as he pulled Hermione away from the stone. "You're stuck we me for a long time."

"I'll hold you to that," Hermione said softly.

"Come on, let's check on your other experiments," Harry said.

"I was worried you might want me to give those up too," Hermione said cheekily.

"I know when to quit," Harry said dryly. Hermione's curious nature was one thing Harry loved about her so much, despite her tendency to get carried away sometimes.

They descended down to the dungeon area hand in hand with an air of comfortable familiarity that they had enjoyed for some time, but that had intensified following their union. Harry relished the soft warm feel of her hand on his and the soothing nature that her presence always brought out in him. Likewise Hermione, whenever she allowed her mind to dwell on it, was almost overwhelmed by happy giddiness that Harry was finally safe and that they were finally together.

"This is the stuff that Bellatrix tried to use on you?" Harry asked when they approached the first cauldron of bubbling substance.

"I don't think she actually tried to use it on me so much as on herself," Hermione said. "It's a powerful acidic poison that can be safely stored inside your body and then activates once expelled and exposed to the air. There's a spell book around here somewhere with the accompanying charm needed to keep it from unintentionally harming the user…"

"This place is a bit of a mess," Harry said as he poked around at the piles of paper. Voldemort's old belongings had been moved out and stored in another part of the mansion for detailed study at a later time so that they could use the room for their own devices. Since then many of the books they had culled from the library along with many other magical tools and potion ingredients had piled up in an unorganized fashion that was actually rather atypical. Harry supposed that they were entitled to be a bit more lax since this was supposed to be their vacation honeymoon after all.

"I'll look it up later, the potion isn't quite ready yet," Hermione said. Harry grinned as she eagerly bounced over to the next cauldron and started stirring it with her wand. It was the formula for the enchanted mist that they Harry had first encountered during the final stage of the Triwizard Tournament and that they had later used to prevent pursuit on foot or to block off narrow spaces from being easily traversed. They had decided that peace or not it would be wise to keep their arsenals stocked with the potions and other tools that had served them so well during the Prophecy War.

"The restoration potion looks ready," Harry said as he inspected another cauldron. He conjured a rack of small glass vials and a measuring ladle. "I'll go ahead and pour it up while you're checking on everything else."

By the time the young couple had finished their work and ascended back up to the parts of the mansion that were above ground the day had begun to dim to twilight. Even though the magical lighting emitted a reassuring glow there was something about the large mansion that made Harry feel ill at ease. Sometimes it almost felt as if there were other _things_ in there watching them even though he knew that was impossible. They had specifically ensured that no creature, magical, mundane, or otherwise had found its way into the premises.

"What are you doing now?" Harry asked once they were back in the room where they were forming the stones. She had picked up Flamel's journal again and was thumbing through the last few pages.

"We're supposed to observe it as it coalesces," she said. "I was hoping that there might be some more information appearing by now."

"Sometimes I get the feeling that Flamel expects whoever reads his journal to pick up a lot of meaning between the lines," Harry observed.

"Probably out of some desire to keep people who don't have the knowledge or skills to build a stone from scratch from being able to easily do so with his help," Hermione said cynically. She had a point though. It seemed to be common practice in the magical world to explain little more than the basics in explicit detail. Everything else was usually taught with the attitude that the student should figure it out for herself with a few hints or not at all.

Harry flicked his wand to rearrange the furniture so that a small sofa was positioned right in front of the apparatus responsible for forming the Sorcerer's Stone. The stone had already begun to solidify in an irregular mass at the bottom of both containers. He could see the stone looked somewhat different than the one that had briefly come into his position so many years ago at Hogwarts. Though he had been busy facing Voldemort at the time Harry still remembered how that stone had a consistent color throughout its misshapen structure. The stones before them now, however, were a deep bloody red at their core and a lighter almost pink color toward the edges.

"Why do you think its forming like that?" Harry asked after he mentioned the inconsistency to Hermione.

"Flamel mentioned it briefly," Hermione said, her eyes accusing Harry of not paying close enough attention.

"You can't blame me for being distracted when trying to concentrate on _you_," Harry said suggestively. His arm pulled Hermione's small frame closer against his own thin figure.

"Flatterer," Hermione giggled. Harry had the feeling that she had set him up to compliment her, not that he mined at all. "Anyway, if you can concentrate I'll explain it again. Flamel said that the stone forms in such a way that emphasizes pressure with the center of the stone being the most under pressure, the most condensed, and thus the most useful part of the stone. He cut away the parts that weren't as red so that only the powerful parts of the stone were left."

"So that way there's nothing to interfere with the reaction," Harry said.

"Right," Hermione replied. "Actually, there is another incarnation of the stone even more suitable to use in alchemic sorcery than the stone Flamel produced, but apparently the only gem smiths with the skill needed to cut such a powerful item are goblins."

"That's great," Harry exclaimed. "Our flasks were made by a goblin master smith. We can get them to make the final cutting then."

"Well, Flamel warns against it, but I was already considering doing it anyway," Hermione said.

"Why would Flamel warn against it?" Harry asked. Surely if the purpose were to present the strongest defense against rogue sorcerers then Flamel would see the worth of making the stone as refined as possible.

"Flamel claims that the goblins can't be trusted with it, that they would abuse it to make endless amounts of gold," Hermione explained. "I looked it up in another book on magical races and it explains that goblins have a gold lust that over rides their reason, but I'm beginning to think its old fashion wizard prejudice."

"There might be some truth to it though," Harry said thoughtfully. "If not by nature then perhaps by hundreds of years of conditioning like the house elves..."

"Except that goblins haven't been under the thumb of wizard kind for hundreds of years," Hermione said. "Besides, no goblin could ever hope to withhold the stone from us. Collectively the goblins can put up a stiff enough resistance to make the wizards shy away from open conflict, but one on one no goblin can stand up to a competent wizard."

"I'm surprised Professor Bins never mentioned that in magical history when he talked about the Goblin Wars," Harry said, referring to the supposed greedy nature of the goblins.

"Would you have known if he had?" Hermione teased lightly. "The goblins tend to get a fairer shake because they could cause some serious problems if offended too badly. Just imagine if banks started closing their doors or calling up unpaid debts. Even the wealthy purebloods wouldn't be immune to the financial stress."

"Well, I for one trust the goblins after everything they've done for us," Harry said. "They've always been discrete in business transactions. We didn't have a single safe house or other location leaked even when the money was directly transferred for a purchase."

"They didn't try to gouge us either, even though they knew we had no choice but to conduct almost all of our transactions through them," Hermione said. "As I recall they even waved some of the minor fees that the Ministry collects that might have possibly been traceable to what we were doing had our names appeared on the payment."

Hermione set the old journal aside and sighed contentedly as she settled back into her favorite spot beneath Harry's arm. She always relished the time they could spend together simply doing nothing after all the countless weeks of exhausted frenzied action that they had shared over the last several years.

"I wonder if those sorcerers are really still out there," Harry mused as he ran his fingers through Hermione's bushy hair.

"I don't know," Hermione replied idly, "I doubt it. If they haven't done anything in all these years then they probably won't start now."

"I wish Flamel had discussed them more," Harry said wistfully. He really didn't like the idea of a strange powerful pair who might for reasons unknown decide to launch an attack at any random time or on the other hand never show themselves again for the rest of their lives.

"I got the impression that he knew more than he let on," Hermione said, but she didn't elaborate. It was a pity that Flamel had died not too long after the destruction of his original Sorcerer's Stone and thus was no longer around to question more thoroughly.

"So you keep saying," Harry replied dryly. He decided to change the topic. "So how long is this final stage supposed to take again?"

"It varies," Hermione said vaguely as she ruffled through the journal a bit more. "Basically all that liquid will eventually squeeze into the stone."

"You mean it isn't going to get any bigger than it already is?" Harry said, trying to recall that particular part of the book.

"Maybe a little," Hermione said. "You know how vague and contradictory Flamel was."

Harry certainly did remember. That was why he couldn't be bothered to keep all the details straight now. With Flamel it was always 'this will happen, unless this does,' or 'expect this stage to react differently each time you proceed through it,' or some other equally unhelpful description.

"Anyway, I doubt it will take much longer now," Hermione said. Already the liquid in the beakers had dropped by around a third from their original level. "As soon as it's finished I was thinking we might go visit my parents."

"Oh?" Harry asked mischievously as he nuzzled Hermione's neck. "Bored of your new husband already are you?"

"Maybe you'll just have to try harder to keep me entertained," Hermione said suggestively as Harry trailed kisses up her neck until planting one lightly on her lips. "Seriously though, I think we should make sure that the new house is well protected just to be on the safe side. It isn't that I don't trust the wizards who were going to set up the defenses, but I'd feel better if we gave them an inspection personally."

"Their new house is being built to look exactly like the old one right?" Harry asked as his hands roamed in a very distracting way.

"Yeah," Hermione said breathlessly.

Harry stopped what he was doing and smirked at her. "So, still bored?" he asked teasingly.

"Come on," Hermione said as she dragged him toward their bedroom. "You'd better finish what you started or _you're_ going to be bored for a very long time."

Harry just smiled and followed.

* * *

AN: Feedback is always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4 – Fear and Loathing

Chapter 4 – Fear and Loathing

It was an unusually hot summer night to be huddling inside an ancient dilapidated shack out in the middle of one of England's more rural districts known as Mundray's Marsh, but that was exactly what Seth Russell was forced to do. Even worse for the son of lesser pureblood nobility was the terrible company that he was forced to keep. Not out of desire, but out of necessity, he had thrown in his lot with these ruffians that he had once commanded in battle for the Dark Lord. Now none of them would listen to a word he said, let alone take orders, but they still expected him to do all the work of attempting to organize their escape.

Of course, Seth wasn't stupid enough to actually let any of them help him make the necessary arrangements even if they wanted to. Their idea of escape was to slink into the nearest tavern and sit in the back with a hood. That actually might have worked last time around, at least feigning ignorance had saved his father after the Dark Lord's downfall the first time, but no such repeat performance would be accepted. Of this Seth was sure.

All across England the Ministry had roared back into action following the decisive battle at Hogwarts. Seth still didn't know exactly what had happened, not being in a position to get official news with any ease, but it was clear that the Dark Lord never left the school after he entered on that fateful day. Whether he was well and truly dead or not was a bit beyond Seth's ability to say, although the complete disappearance of his Dark Mark tattoo and the shattering of his crystal skull made that seem likely.

In any event there were whispers amongst the remnants he had gathered around him for mutual protection that Azkaban was reopened and even more ghastly than ever before. Even worse were the rumors of two terrible powers that stalked Voldemort's old faithful and delivered swift brutal death to them when they least expected it. Just the thought of facing the young witch and wizard that had achieved a legendary fame throughout the ranks of Voldemort's dark army was enough to send Seth into shivers. He hadn't signed on for a war after all. The revolution was supposed to be quick and relatively effortless with the greatest dark wizard in the history of magic on their side.

Alas, it was not to be, and now with his ancestral home in ruins, his fortune lost, spent, or confiscated by the Ministry, Seth was finally going to be rid of England. After this night he and what was left of his band would disappear into the vastness of the magical world across distant oceans never to be heard of again. He had even managed to gain a measure of protection from the shaman tribes in Asia that had toyed with an alliance in exchange for his services as a teacher to share some of the secrets of English wizardry with them.

A sharp series of raps at the door shook Seth out of his thoughts and reminded him that the time for his group's departure was very near. They would have to take a short portkey to a location near the coastline where a ship was awaiting to take them to France and from there another portkey would take them across the Mediterranean.

"It's about time," Seth said irritably after he looked through the door's small peephole to see three dark robed figures standing outside. All three of them were holding up large medallions the size of a gold coin, which were inscribed with a striking serpent.

"Sorry boss," the tallest guy said cheekily. "Got lost on the way over..."

"Lost in a tavern most likely," Seth retorted as he caught a whiff of alcohol. "If you get us caught…"

"I ain't gonna get caught pretty boy," the second man growled. "You might be runnin' this show, but don't forget yourself, this is just a cooperation. Lessen' we get paid you don't get to give orders."

"We're all on the same side here Lester," the tall man said smoothly. The three took their seats and Seth tried to not let out a sigh of relief. Now that they were all together they numbered seven. Two full squads minus one lost in combat at the Ministry before the order to withdraw was given.

"Tonight's the night everyone," Seth said. Immediately the group's wayward attention settled on him. "I've finally managed to find someone who can make an international portkey and have arranged a meeting with them in Normandy. I've also got a schedule of the Ministry's patrol times around the portkey inhibition barrier from one of our spies in the Magical Law Enforcement Department. This person will be joining us on our escape since he is certain that his position can't withstand the scrutiny of the full investigation currently going on. We'll all apparate out of here in about fifteen minutes to the coordinates on the papers I've handed out; any questions?"

"So you didn't manage to find any other individuals like us?" the tall man asked.

"I thought I already explained this," Seth said irritably. "We can't risk going out and trying to find others right now. Maybe we can put some feelers out once we're in the Orient, but I'm not risking my neck right now. We're all on our own."

"Of course," the tall man said, "That's all I wanted to know."

Seth reeled backward as the tall man and his two companions drew wands. Before he could register what was happening there were three flashes of green light and the other would be exiles collapsed.

"Tanner, what are you doing?" Seth shouted.

"I'm afraid I'm not exactly who you think I am," the man who wasn't Tanner said smugly. His image shimmered and was replaced by a tall platinum blonde with a patch over one eye and an ugly cursed scar marring his otherwise aristocratic features.

"Lord Malfoy?" Seth said questioningly in a quivering voice.

"Do I know you?" Malfoy asked in a flat, bored tone. He raised his wand to give an arranged signal and the door promptly burst inward as two more Ministry hit wizards rushed in.

"We've got to hurry Lord Malfoy," the first hit wizard said anxiously. "The rest of the force will be acting on this tip any minute now."

"Give me the wand," Malfoy commanded as the whimpering man being dragged by the hit wizards was thrown at his feet.

"What are you doing?" Seth broke in, now terrified and confused.

"It's simple really," Malfoy said casually as he took the wand that was handed to him. "You and you men were murdered by vigilantes in conjunction with the Americans."

"Wha-what?" Seth blubbered, but he never knew Malfoy's response. A flash of green light impacted against him causing his lifeless form to slip limply down onto the floor.

"Now for the other one," one of the hit wizards said.

"Wait," the prone figure at Malfoy's feet begged. "You said if I told you how to make the sign you'd let me go."

"As so you shall be set free," Malfoy said cruelly, "Set free to the other world with our thanks. After all, without your help this wouldn't have been possible."

The tall dark haired man walked over to Seth's body and retrieved his wand during the course of Malfoy's exchange with their prisoner. He pointed it at the bound man and uttered the killing curse. Malfoy tossed the wand he had used to kill Seth onto the floor next to the newest corpse, now unbound, and pulled out his own again. He muttered a spell and caused a gleaming silver outline of a torch to engrave itself onto the shack's wall.

"Let's go," Malfoy said. Using gloved hands he carefully pulled out an empty vial and tossed it onto the floor. "Make sure you leave no trace of yourself behind."

One a few moments after Malfoy and his followers vanished away the night was filled with the sharp cracks of apparation as Ministry personnel arrived at the ghastly scene which was eerily illuminated under the wispy silver glow of an instantly recognizable symbol.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was irritated to say the least and reasonably so. Ever since the end of the so-called Prophecy War the Ministry had been in a tumult trying to reassure its allies abroad, and the public, that magical government still existed as a functional entity. The destruction of the seat of governmental power had come as an embarrassing blow not easily written off even if it was the action of one of the most accomplished and infamous wizards in all of English history.

Then, as if that weren't enough, the Minister was afraid of territorial incursions on England's sovereignty from any number of groups abroad. Shacklebolt understood the logic, but it still seemed rather far-fetched to him that the trolls, giants, or goblins would take this particular moment to cause trouble. Even more incomprehensible was why he of all people was stuck with his current duty.

"Whoa!" Shacklebolt yelled as the massive beast beneath him suddenly flinched and tilted to its side. He kicked frantically at the thick armored skin and tried to remember the brief training that he'd been given before they sent him out on such a ridiculous patrol.

There was a smell of sulfur followed by a rumbling snort as the dragon righted itself again and continued on its flight parallel to the distant English shoreline. The dragon had been constantly testing the bounds of its rider's ability to control it. That combined with the twilight had made it exceptionally difficult for Shacklebolt to be sure if he was on his prescribed route or not.

"Bloody lizard," Shacklebolt grumbled as powerful wings beat intermittently to maintain altitude. Why, for Merlin's sake, the Minister had received a squadron of dragon fliers without the actual trained dragon riders was beyond him. Furthermore, why he, Kingsley Shacklebolt, auror, was being forced to ride around on one of the irksome creatures was even more perplexing.

"Bloody uniform," Shacklebolt said. His teeth gritted as he resisted loosing a long string of curses. He had been happy to don the crimson red uniform of the auror corps once again, but that joy had died stillborn as he got his first assignment. Now his spell resistant uniform was nothing more than a cumbersome irritant that billowed about wildly, sometimes wrapping around his head and preventing him from seeing. The only comfort he could take was that with no one around for a dozen miles he could grumble in peace about his lot in life. It wasn't like the dragon could report his insubordinate attitude to anyone.

"This has got to be the most useless assignment I've ever had," Shacklebolt said as he tried to knee his dragon back toward its base north of London. "Doesn't everyone know the war's finally over…"

The dragon screamed out in pain as a half dozen blasts of green energy slammed into its thick layer of dead outer scales. Shacklebolt peered into the night sky with the vision enhancing properties of his blue auror's eyepiece. Up above him to his right was the dark shape of a massive dragon with a willowy figure standing impossibly on its back.

"Identify yourself," Shacklebolt yelled as he nudged his dragon to rise and evade any further attack that might appear along its original path.

He got no response save for another flurry of deadly green bolts of light that didn't seem to be well aimed. Shacklebolt replied with several hexes and stunners of his own, but they were effortlessly blocked by the dark figure that still stood like a statue, though one with long bushy hair, atop the opposing dragon.

"I can't beat her like this," Shacklebolt muttered to himself. He kneed his dragon again and sent it into a steep dive in an attempt to pick up speed. If he could get fast and low enough his much less bulky animal should be able to outrun the monster behind him.

A hideous scream erupted from Shacklebolt's dragon as long watery tentacles rose out of the water to claw at its underbelly. Frantic wing beats lifted the dragon out of the reach of the watery attackers and through a haze of steam Shacklebolt could see that his attempt at escape hadn't worked.

Desperately, Shacklebolt kicked his mount hard in the signal it had been trained to recognize as a command to release its flame. Strong magical fire gushed out from its hinged jaws toward the attacker, which was still shrouded in the night's darkness. Seemingly of its own accord the other dragon opened its mouth and responded with a torrent of foul smelling muck that enveloped the relatively smaller amount of flame Shacklebolt's dragon had produced.

"Mud breathing dragon!" Shacklebolt thought to himself as he put his own steed into another twisting drive to gain speed over his opponent. Earth dragons, as opposed to fire dragons, were not native to Europe. Every schoolchild knew that earth dragons were only found in North America

Shacklebolt shifted his aim and started trying to bring down his opponent's dragon since it was swiftly becoming apparent that the mystery woman was a far better mage than he. Several hexes bounced off of the thick scales just below the sensitive area around the creature's eyes before he noticed something else in the glare put off by his spells. The earth dragon was wearing what appeared to be a solid strip of silver in a headband that covered its eyes entirely.

With all other options gone Shacklebolt raised his wand in a slashing motion as he determined to at least loose his best spells before the fight ended. His arm had just reached the apex of its motion when the entire limb burst into searing magical flame. His wand dropped from fingers rendered uncontrollable due to pain and Shacklebolt's dragon, already injured and scared, reared up as the earth dragon moved in close to grapple with it in midair.

Shacklebolt wrenched himself out of his saddle and lurched with his good arm in an attempt to retrieve the wand that had caught in the dragon's scales. His hair rippled as his dragon began to drop from the sky after having had its relatively fragile wings torn to tatters by the earth dragon's claws. He attempted another spell, but in the middle of it his right leg immolated as well. The pain that had just exploded in an intense flash of delirium was repeated as his other leg was lit afire too. Somehow Shacklebolt still had the presence of mind to send up a shower of wand sparks an instant before he passed out and simultaneously impacted against the ocean still atop the remains of his dragon. The last thing Shacklebolt saw was the standing figure of the woman on the earth dragon as the beast tipped its wing and flapped off into the night out toward the open sea.

Shacklebolt groaned as something bright penetrated his emerging consciousness a couple of hours later. "Oi, over here Buckley," a voice called out.

"What happened to him?" Buckley replied. Shacklebolt had the uncomfortable sensation of being wrenched into a hasty levitation charm.

"He's burned to a crisp," the first voice said. "Hurry up and get that portkey over here. We've got to get him back to the staging area and across the dispersion field into England proper as fast as possible."

"What about our dragons?" Buckley asked.

"We'll come back for them," the first voice replied. Shacklebolt felt the uncomfortable tug of the portkey and then he knew nothing again.

"Minister Fudge, sir, I have the consultation results that you wanted," Percy Weasley said breathlessly as he came running up to the group of bureaucrats moving through the halls at the Minister's heels.

"Excellent, Percy," Fudge replied as he accepted the thin folder of papers that contained the written opinions of the other members of the Wizengamot. Even though the Wizengamot technically had no authority to override him so long as his emergency powers were active he was still required to submit new legislation to them for comment. If enough of the Wizengamot opposed him they could make his life difficult with delays and other maneuvers even if he still got his way in the end.

"It was almost unanimous sir," Percy replied, beaming that the Minister finally remembered his name on a reliable basis. In front of senior bureaucrat and political staff no less. For years Percy had labored in obscurity, held back by his petty family and their ties to Dumbledore, but now he was on the verge of finally breaking through. The Minister had been promising him a big assignment in the near future, one that Percy could hardly contain his curiosity for. "Madam Bones and a couple of her allies insist on being obstinate no matter how needful these new measures are."

"She has become a constant source of trouble," Fudge agreed, already on the move again. The twisting halls of the rebuilt Ministry were state of the magical art, splendorous, richly decorated, and befitting of the wizarding government of England. Large double doors swung open magically at the end of the hall to reveal a lovely anteroom. Immediately Fudge was swamped by even more functionaries that had waited outside the inner chamber of his main office.

"Minister, we have a top priority defense report from our Atlantic scouts," the first red clad wizard said briskly. The man was clearly aged and sported a long white beard.

"I'll take it in my office," Fudge replied. He turned to the rest of the bureaucrats following him. "You're all dismissed until I call for you. Someone summon Viscount Artemis and the Lady."

"No need for that Minister," the light voice of Sense Artemis trilled out.

"We were just informed and were coming to you," Septimus Artemis added. Their snake emblem robes billowed slightly as they walked into the room. Percy felt his heart clench slightly in a mix of pride and anxiousness to be so close to two such as those. The enemies of the Ministry would be in for a terrifying surprise if they ever faced the Artemis siblings.

"All right, tell us what you've got," Fudge said once the doors were closed. The only people remaining were those who were most highly ranked in England's defense and intelligence branches. Percy could barely refrain from grinning, still unable to believe how lucky he was to be allowed in on sensitive meetings.

"Less than twelve hours ago Auror Shacklebolt was shot down on standard patrol over the 14th Atlantic route," the white bearded auror said. "According to testimony taken from those on the scene and from Shacklebolt himself the attacker was a brown haired woman of exceptional power riding on an earth dragon. The woman was also described as being very young."

"Earth dragon?" Fudge said. "Were there any markings on it? Have any of the other patrols picked up anything out to the west? What about our agents in New York and Philadelphia, have they heard any chatter on the official channels?"

"Sir, we haven't heard anything out of the ordinary from the Americans since their unofficial involvement in the Battle of Hogwarts," replied the white bearded auror.

"The Atlantic is a vast place," the second auror said. "It would not be difficult to hide a sizeable force out there with the proper enchantments to support it."

"This also poses another problem Minister," Septimus said smoothly. "According to this report the attacking witch was unusually powerful. It says here that she used numerous complex spells including the elementals without any spell words."

"I don't follow," Fudge said.

"According to the profiles kept by the Treaty Force the Americans shouldn't have such an individual," Septimus explained. "The Americans simply do not have any known witch fitting that description in their regular forces. Traditionally no agent has ever been appointed at such a young age either."

"Changing one's appearance is a minor feat Septimus," Fudge replied lazily.

"That's true," Septimus agreed, "However, we know one witch of that description and power who is already a confirmed associate of the Americans."

"Granger," Fudge growled. "I wouldn't put it past her, but there is no evidence. All indications point to the disbanding of the Light Bearers. Granger and Potter have rumored to have eloped together or some such."

"Lack of evidence makes me suspicious," Septimus said. "Who knows what they might be planning in the dark. For two of the only three people currently living that fought the Dark Lord in single combat and survived to be unchecked is dangerous. It is precisely what you have tried to guard against, Minister."

"If they have joined up with the Americans it could be a disaster," the white bearded auror said.

Percy grimaced and tried not to move as he observed the ongoing conversation. Sometimes it was hard for him to believe that the little timid Potter boy and his bushy haired girlfriend had become such monstrous individuals. The very core of wizard society was threatened, especially by Granger and her muggle like obsession with "rights" for creatures like elves.

"The American philosophy of combat has long revolved around mass tactics," Septimus said after Fudge asked for a more detailed analysis of the situation. "They can field upward of twenty thousand wizards if they were to fully mobilize their entire magical population. Of course such a number is unrealistic; it would strip their society barren. The important factor is that they have few exceptional warriors. They use strategy and prepared magic instead of single points of strength augmented by support."

"If Granger and Potter were to join them it would go a long way in giving them the best of both worlds," the white bearded auror added. "Not to mention the fear that Potter's name generates in many people these days."

"Sir, it is my opinion," Septimus began, but was interrupted by the doors to the office rushing inward suddenly.

"Lucius?" Fudge asked. He was clearly somewhat perturbed at the stately man's abrupt arrival.

"My task force has grim news to report that simply couldn't wait Minister," Lucius said solemnly. He threw a large brown envelope onto the desk in front of Fudge and waited for the head of the wizard government to open it.

"Then it is as we feared," Fudge said slowly as he thumbed through the pictures. The murder scene revealed by the images was ghastly and at the end the symbol of the perpetrator was clear.

"It would seem that the Light Mark has become the new Dark Mark," Septimus said wryly as he peered at the pictures.

"Those men were Ministry agents," Lucius said grimly. "Without their aid the Dark Lord would have discovered my duplicity with the government several times over. That Potter would take the time and effort to track them down for elimination is not a good sign. As a part of the underground intelligence network their loss will make it that much more difficult to detect the movement of the remaining dark forces. If Potter were trying to assimilate the Dark Lord's army into his own then their elimination would be a necessity…"

"Sir," the bearded auror interrupted, "This changes everything. Potter is active, or at least some part of his organization, and even worse we know Granger heavily influences everything he does. If the Light Bearers are continuing their collaboration with the Americans then we could be looking at a full scale war or at least a coup attempt."

"But why would the Americans want to work with someone like Potter?" Percy blurted out. He stepped back involuntarily as several pairs of eyes swiveled towards him.

"I forgot, you didn't get that memo," Fudge said with surprising grace. He dug into his desk and removed a pensieve along with a small bottle half filled with a liquid memory. "This should get you up to speed. Now, where were we?"

Percy didn't hear the auror's dry response regarding the overall strategic condition of England as he immersed his consciousness into the liquid memory.

_The long flowing robes of the Minister of Magic, richly adorned with the emblems of state, fluttered as he walked down the center isle of a dusty abandoned monastery. Wearing the garb attributed to a full diplomatic mission Fudge looked utterly out of place in the dark run down structure. Behind him two men in dark blue robes and cloaks that shrouded their faces stood as silent guardians over their Head of State. Another small portly looking man wearing a black cloak trundled along behind the two hit wizards. He appeared to be doing his best not to quiver and failing utterly._

"_Minister, esteemed guests, welcome," a deep rich voice intoned from points all around the room. In the center of the raised platform that stood at the far end of the room a thick black mist began to gather and take on shape. A dark haired man with sharp pale features materialized into existence from the mist and stepped forward toward Fudge._

"_Have you considered our offer Morbus?" Fudge asked._

"_I have, and a most generous offer it is, but I'm afraid that the answer is no," Morbus replied. "Your offer simply cannot compensate the sacrifices that would be required for us to join your side of this conflict. Against the power of the Dark Lord or the Chosen One our immortality would be swept aside as a footnote. We will not be the cannon fodder of wizard kind Minister."_

"_The Dark Lord is on the move," Fudge replied. "With any luck those forces will annihilate themselves against each other leaving the Ministry to clean up the mess. All we want is a little cooperation in the post-action…"_

"_And of course the opportunity to segregate the vampire population on another continent," Morbus interrupted snidely._

"_It's a good offer for all the parties involved," Fudge said defensively. "The lands England retains in the muggle nation of Canada would suit your lifestyle most admirably."_

"_Of course it would," Morbus retorted, "Just don't pretend that the proposed gift is purely altruistic on your part."_

"_Perhaps there is something else we could offer that would sweeten the deal," Fudge said as he attempted to avoid the vampire chief's point. "Mr. Vitter, if you would."_

_Vance Vitter, eccentric potions master, shuffled abreast of the Minister and presented a small vial. _

"_With this potion the ailments of the curse will melt away from your kind," Fudge said._

"_Its…it's a very complex discovery I made, I mean, that I worked on, it's really great," Vitter stuttered uneasily. _

"_What exactly does it do?" Morbus asked. The vampire overlord seemed to grow taller and more malevolent as he leered greedily at the vial._

"_It eliminates the thirst," Fudge said triumphantly. _

"_We would no longer desire to feed?" Morbus asked._

"_You would no longer need to in order to survive," Fudge said. "It will perfect your immortality."_

"_Oh yes, very much so and there's more," Vitter said excitedly. "Invulnerability to wood and sunlight won't be a bother either. Since it refines the curse the natural powers of the vampire who takes it should also be greatly enhanced."_

"_How enhanced?" Morbus said in a demanding voice._

"_Perhaps enough to overcome a modest wizard in single combat," Fudge said. "Of course it isn't tested and older, more powerful vampires will likely benefit far more. Who knows how beneficial it might be."_

"_If this potion works as promised we have a deal," Morbus said quickly. _

"_Take it, Vance here will provide you with instructions on making more, but for now we will supply you with it as rapidly as we can," Fudge said. "Gather your best warriors together and after you are satisfied with tests have them take the potion. When the Ministry requires your services we will make contact again. Once we are satisfied with your service the lands promised will be yours."_

Percy gasped as he pulled himself back out of the pensieve from the shock of the experience and the information. He looked over at where the Minister was still talking to his advisors. Even though he knew how great a leader Fudge was, how he had worked tirelessly to save England from the ravages of vigilante warfare elevated to the point of a civil war, he still couldn't help but feel a slight bit of uneasiness in his gut at the idea of strengthening the vampires. Of all the magical creatures vampires were looked down upon the most, even more so than the dim witted giants and trolls.

"Very well," Fudge said. Percy's mind snapped back fully into focus. "Then begin the preparations immediately. I want every wizard available working on this until they're found."

Everyone started moving toward the door when Fudge motioned discretely. "Septimus, Sense, Lucius, if you would stay here with myself and young Percy while I converse with our ally." He said.

Septimus and Sense both smirked as they took up inconspicuous positions next to the door. Sense twirled an idle strand of her nearly white blonde hair that had fallen down from the elegant spiral atop her head.

"Please try to be respectful Lucius," Fudge muttered before approaching a full length mirror that hung unobtrusively on the wall.

"Pretentious scum, calling itself Morbus," Lucius muttered in such a way that Percy doubted the Minister heard him. "This had better work."

Fudge touched the ornamental framework that the mirror sat in along several different decorative ridges before stepping back. A moment later a familiar thick darkness began to coalesce inside the reflective area, slowly taking on the roughly human shape of the vampire who called himself Morbus.

A shiny black boot and the attached leg stepped out of the mirror followed by the rest of the vampire liaison. Percy noticed some subtle changes between the Morbus in the memory Fudge had shown him and the Morbus that had just finished walking through the mirror. His skin was less pale, his hair slightly longer, and his fangs no longer protruded past his thin lips.

"A delight, as always Minister," Morbus said as his eyes darted to the location of the two Artemis siblings. "But was it really necessary for those _things_ to be present?"

Lucius' face, normally placid, hardened noticeably.

"Ah, Lucius, my good _friend_," Morbus said jovially. "You were no doubt overjoyed to hear about the success of young Vitter's potion."

"Ah, there will be plenty of time to reacquaint later," Fudge interrupted. "I'm afraid we have urgent business to attend to."

"My followers stand ready to fulfill our part of the bargain," Morbus said.

"How good to hear," Lucius said. "Potter is still causing trouble and now it seems as if the Americans are involved too."

"This had better not interfere with our arrangement Minister," Morbus said sharply. "If the Americans catch on to what we're doing it will be troublesome."

"They won't have a clue until the situation is beyond their ability to interfere with," Fudge said reassuringly. "What we must do is prevent potential revolutionary factions from igniting the civil war that You-Know-Who's death was supposed to suppress."

Morbus made a rumbling noise deep in his throat. "I should hope so, for the sake of our bargain," he said. "But keep in mind that our agreement does not include us fighting your war for you Minister."

"Of course, of course," Fudge said, still trying to be reassuring. "Your forces will merely do routine patrol and other mundane policing work. Your job is to free up our forces to intensify their ongoing counterrevolutionary duties."

"Do you think you can handle that?" Lucius asked brusquely.

"Don't worry," Morbus said. He grinned in a way that Percy thought almost sinister. "My followers and I shall protect England's magical community like a faithful shepherd watches over his flock."

"Excellent," Fudge said before Lucius could bring a full blown scowl to bear against their guest. A feat which was rather intensely frightening as a result of his scarred visage left over from some battle Percy knew had something to do with the defense of the Ministry. "Inform me when your preparations are complete."

"As you wish," Morbus' voice said echoing as his form lost its shape and dwindled away as a dissipating cloud of black mist.

"Lucius, don't let your temper get the best of you," Fudge admonished once their guest had departed.

"Minister, you know what that abomination," Lucius began, teeth gritted with pent up rage.

"I know and I sympathize," Fudge interrupted sharply. "Why do you think I'm taking this opportunity to get those bloody monsters out of our country? For now we have to make our move before this nation is ripped apart again by people who want to side with demons like that."

"Yes, Minister, it's just that," Lucius said, but let his voice trail off with an uncharacteristic note of pain.

"Lucius, you've been my greatest supporter and one of the few people I can truly name as a friend," Fudge said sincerely. "Can I count on you again?"

"Of course Cornelius," Lucius replied.

"Thank you," Fudge said, jovial again. "Go find Dolores and Vance. This won't be like the end of the first war where the enemy got to linger until he was ready for us. This time we're going to clean them out so fast that they won't know what's going on."

Lucius nodded and turned away smiling. If Fudge wanted those two then he was finally going to get his wish and this time Dumbledore wouldn't be around to foil him.

"Minister, what do you want us to do about the border?" Septimus asked. "It will be easy to maintain portkey interdiction, but with dragon incursions it would be simple for infiltrators to come and go as they please."

"I am aware of that," Fudge said. "I believe you know what my orders are. Go and carry them out, but be sure that no one intercepts you."

Sense giggled and started humming a song Percy had never heard before. Septimus glanced at her warily as she stepped ahead lightly before he nodded at Fudge and exited the room.

"Percy," Fudge said, his voice dripping with fatigue, "Could I get some tea?"

"Right away sir," Percy said.

"I'm going to miss having you around," Fudge added as an afterthought.

"Sir?" Percy asked, bewildered.

"Wait for Lucius to return," Fudge replied. "I've got a new assignment for you."

"Captain Tigger," a young woman in uniform shouted from the doorway as she saluted with fist over heart, "General Tycus just appeared at the apparition point."

"Captain, what in blazes is going on out here?" General Tycus bellowed as he stormed in behind the enlisted solider. "Why is my base on high alert and why are my troops equipping?"

"That would be my doing General," Septimus Artemis said as he stepped into view.

"Thank you for the report," Captain Tigger said to the young woman. "Dismissed."

"Sir," the enlisted solider replied as she beat a hasty retreat.

"General," Captain Tigger continued, "This command has been ordered to England immediately."

"Viscount," General Tycus said nervously. "What is this all about so suddenly, if I may ask?"

"You may not, but sufficed to say that your considerable talents may be needed soon," Septimus replied.

"I don't know if I should be flattered or concerned," Tycus said. "What threat could possibly exist that would require your prodigious skills be joined with my humble efforts?"

"Captain Tigger, show the good General the actual assignment," Septimus said.

The general accepted the thin folder and opened it up. He scanned the first few lines before looking up in surprise. "Dragon riders? A full compliment?" he said incredulously.

"Correct," Septimus replied. "I've already given the command, but I want you to personally oversee the supply lines."

"I know my duty," Tycus said stiffly. He turned on his heel and went back outside to where the forces of the Treaty Alliance were rallying for their impending move to England.

The great fire breathing dragons of Eruope, some smaller breeds built for speed, some larger ones built for power and carrying capacity, were lining up in one row after another for equipping. Highly trained wizards drawn from all across the continent were equipping somewhere out of sight as they prepared to ride these beasts into battle. Tycus shook his head slightly. He had always considered himself a cautious and insightful man, but for the life of him he couldn't fathom what on earth the immensely powerful force rallying before his eyes could possibly be expected to battle.


	5. Chapter 5 – The Favor of Goblins

Chapter 5 – The Favor of Goblins

"It looks like time is about up," Harry said idly as he thumbed through another book that Hermione had dug up for him.

"Did you see anyplace you wanted to visit in there?" Hermione asked.

Harry made an uncommitted noise. "Not especially."

Hermione's nose crinkled up slightly. "Will you stop worrying about the stone already?" She said. "There's nothing left to go wrong now."

"I wasn't thinking about the stone," Harry replied. "I was just thinking about this house. I know we've been over it several times now, but I can't keep from feeling that we're still missing something."

Hermione leaned over and snuggled up against Harry, her bushy hair inundating his face pleasantly. "You're getting to be worse than me," she said jokingly. "We can seal this place up, ward it, and leave some dementors as watch dogs. If there is anything dangerous that we haven't discovered it shouldn't be able to cause any harm."

"What about your parents?" Harry asked. "I thought you wanted to see them more to make up for all the time you had to spend away from them for school?"

"The Ministry should be taking down the portkey interdiction boundary soon," Hermione said. "We can come back as much as we like to see everyone. Oh Harry, I'm so looking forward to finally getting to tour the magical world. There are so many amazing creatures and historical sights that I've wanted to see for years now."

"Then I guess I'm glad I never paid attention in History of Magic," Harry replied. Hermione looked at him askance so he elaborated. "I don't know what to expect so it'll all be a surprise and since I don't know what I'm missing there's no nervous anticipation."

Hermione let out a huff of air. "You're such a rascal," she said playfully. "I should have force fed you the notes from Professor Bin's class."

Harry stood up and stretched. "I'm going to check on the stone again," he said. "If you want to have plenty of time to visit your parents we really should be going. I don't know how long it will take Cramshak to make the cuts even assuming that he can."

"He sold us our flasks," Hermione said by way of affirmation. She was referring to the silver flasks that could magically store a variety of liquid contents that Harry had purchased from a goblin master of crafts. "From what I can tell they're complicated enough to require the kind of skill needed to properly cut the stone."

Together they made the short journey to the room where they had secured the maze of glass pipes and other implements that were necessary for the process of creating the Sorcerer's Stone. The cauldrons and tubes had long since boiled dry, leaving a red sand like substance encrusted along their sides. In the final collection beakers were the rough outcome of the process.

"This doesn't look like the Stone that Voldemort tried to steal," Harry commented as they carefully examined the large crystals before they attempted to touch them.

"No, I don't suppose it would," Hermione said distantly as she stared into the slightly larger of the two stones.

"There was none of this almost clear portion along the edges," Harry said. There was at least two or three centimeters of clear crystal that turned into a progressively pink, then red hue as he looked deeper toward the center of the stone.

"Those portions would impede properly channeling magical energy through the stone's framework," Hermione said. She reached down enthusiastically and grabbed the stone she had been looking at. Hermione's bushy hair billowed briefly and her eyes glinted with magic as soon as her finger touched the surface of the stone, but for the most part she appeared artificially calm. Almost like a statue, as if she were completely immune to the surrounding world, incapable of being affected by any outside force.

Harry hesitated for a second, his hand hovering just above the reflective surface of the other stone before grabbing it in a burst of determination. The smooth surface of the stone seemed electric, as if his powers were being magnified by a hundred wands all at once, but at the same time the stone also seemed to contain an insatiable thirst for magical energies. He could feel his power flowing from his fingers into the stone and the stone's different, yet strangely similar power flowing back into him in an endless cycle.

"Just think," Hermione said, her voice intruding harshly on the splendor of the stone's smooth revitalizing feeling. "This is what the stone is like when it's encased in impurities. Imagine what the concentrated heart is like."

"And I always thought that Voldemort just wanted it for its healing properties," Harry said, still marveling at the stone's amazing qualities. He set the stone back into the basin that it had solidified in and grasped his wand briefly to summon a special container that he and Hermione had designed together.

"We shouldn't do anything to the stone or use it until it's been perfectly cut," Hermione said.

"Let's seal them up," Harry said, his agreement not needing to be vocalized. Silently he and Hermione placed the stones inside the chest before securing it with a spell. "Cramshak's shop should be open, but I don't think we can apparate right into it."

"Diagon Alley probably won't notice two more anonymous visitors," Hermione said. It was true that commerce had started to flow again after the end of the war, but the Ministry still maintained a tight watch on London's major business hub. They certainly didn't want anyone to spot them when they were supposed to be far away honeymooning.

After a few spells to lock down the mansion while they were away Harry and Hermione apparated away with a silent swish of the plain black robes that they had donned to conceal themselves. They appeared outside the brick wall where Hagrid had first brought Harry into the magical world concealed behind an invisibility charm for an extra measure of protection just on the odd chance that someone who couldn't apparate might be using the alternative entrance.

"Looks like this place is unsavory as usual," Harry commented as he tapped out the proper sequence on the wall with his wand. The area surrounding the hidden entrance was grimy from extended disuse and neglect.

"_Lots of security,_" Hermione's voice echoed through Harry's consciousness as they moved into the alley and made their way toward Cramshak's shop. There were at least a dozen men in Ministry uniforms milling about. Some were aurors in red robes, others were wearing plain grey garb that Harry had never seen before, but nonetheless bore the government insignia.

"_We'd better hurry before we get detained or inspected or something,_" Harry replied. The rare mental bond that he shared with Hermione was one of their greatest advantages, even for something as simple as not being overheard as they walked down a street.

"_At least there are a lot of people wearing hoods,_" Hermione said. It would really be pointless to make people show their faces since a good wizard could alter his appearance without it being noticeable. All a hood usually meant was someone didn't want his expression revealed as he bartered with a merchant or perhaps desired to be left alone from the occasional friendly passersby.

"_Here it is,_" Harry said. The shop was looking much the worse for wear than it had appeared the last time Harry had been there. The entire front wall looked as if it had been bashed in by a spell and then cursed so it wouldn't repair properly. Great cracks ran through the sagging supports that kept it somewhat upright.

"_How inviting,_" Hermione said sarcastically as she used her wand to move one of the loose boards aside to make a narrow space for them to pass through.

"We're closed," a raspy voice said from the darkened interior of the room.

"Cramshak?" Harry asked. "Is that you?"

"Who wants to know, who's there?" Cramshak asked, his small form materializing out of the darkness.

"It's me, Harry," Harry said as he pushed his hood back.

"My, my, so it is," Cramshak said, his attitude brightening. "Come on back, please, let's get out of the dark."

Harry and Hermione followed him behind the smashed counter into a room with a door in the floor which led to a set of stairs going down below the building. The stairway was deceptively short and they quickly found themselves standing on an earthen floor about a meter below ground.

"So what can I do for you Mr. Potter?" Cramshak asked once the cellar doors had closed behind them. "Somehow I doubt that you came all this way just to pay me a visit during these hectic times."

"We need your help," Hermione said as she sat down the chest containing the stones and then pushed her hood back too. "Something that we hope you are uniquely suited for."

"Hermione Granger," Cramshak said in recognition. His eyes flitted to her hands. "Or should I say Hermione Potter. I see that Mr. Potter's last unusual request was satisfactory."

"Yes," Hermione said, blushing slightly as she gazed at the enchanted stone on the engagement ring Harry had given her. "You're correct on all counts and the ring was very lovely. Your ability to make such a fine magical gem is partly why we're here now."

"A magical gem?" Cramshak asked curiously. "There aren't many magical gems that actually require the skill of a craftsman…"

He cut off as Hermione waved her wand and touched the top of the chest to undo the enchantments that protected it from foreign hands trying to gain access to its contents. Harry could almost see the goblin's eyes popping out as he looked into the chest at the two uncut Sorcerer's Stones that were magically suspended inside.

"Lapis Philosophorum," Cramshak said reverently. "You've actually created not one, but two of the legendary Sorcerer's Stone."

"We each created one," Hermione said.

"But we can't use it properly like this," Harry said. "We were hoping that you'd be able to cut out the Stone's heart, the purest part of the gem, so that we can use them to their fullest."

"Me?" Cramshak exclaimed. "You want me to cut the stone for you?"

"You can can't you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, of course, I suppose," Cramshak sputtered.

"Then we'll leave it to you," Harry said brightly. "Hermione and I have someplace that we've been anxious to go to."

"No, wait," Cramshak said emotionally. "Why would you let such precious things out of your sight? Why would you give them freely to a goblin?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Hermione asked. She held up her hand and flashed the blood ring "We've done a lot of sensitive business with your cousin Grimshaw over the past year and you made me this lovely ring at your own risk. No one knows that the stones are here so it should be safe."

"Here," Harry said as he conjured up a small disk and transfigured it into a portkey. "This is keyed to take you past the defenses at a, uh, place, that we will be at when you're finished. If you can't find us immediately just don't go outside and it should be safe, but we will probably know when you arrive."

"Mr. Potter, most wizards would never trust a goblin with such a powerful magical device," Cramshak said. Harry nodded, remembering the recent conversation that he and Hermione had about the stereotype of goblins as irredeemably greedy.

"If you can place this much trust with me then can I make a request?" Cramshak asked.

"A request?" Hermione repeated curiously. "Do you know something about the stones?"

"Only what history records," Cramshak replied. "Goblins cannot use magic like wizards, of course, so our ability to comprehend the full implications of such a creation is limited. My request is that you not use the stone to transmute gold or other precious substances."

"You don't want us to generate wealth with it?" Harry asked, startled. He had expected a plea to refrain from using the stone's great power or its ability to generate immortality granting elixir.

"The goblins have always feared the stone primarily for its ability to endlessly create gold," Cramshak said. "I understand that in the hands of a great wizard it can probably accomplish other dangerous purposes or else the Dark Lord would not have sought it. However, if the stone is abused in such a fashion I have faith that the magical community would band together to stop such misuse. In any event I trust you Mr. Potter, and you too Mrs. Potter, to use the stone well."

"You're afraid that we'll destroy the economy aren't you?" Hermione asked, breaking into Cramshak's ramble.

"Yes," the small goblin replied. "If too much gold were to flow into the market it would become next to worthless. There is no other medium of currency that would be anywhere near as efficient and we can't simply print notes like the muggle governments because no one would recognize the worth of paper that isn't backed by real value."

"We don't need gold," Harry said suddenly with a light laugh. "Right Hermione? We've got a place to live and I've still got some savings."

"Oh yes," Hermione replied. "Don't worry Cramshak, we planned to seal up the stones once we've experimented with them a bit anyway."

Cramshak's eyes darted to the thin bluish metal that covered Harry's injured arm for a second, but he nodded. "I should have known that it was unnecessary to ask," he said simply. "I will begin work immediately so you can expect me within a matter of days."

"You can tell us then what it will cost," Harry added as he and Hermione turned to the stairs.

"If it would be acceptable I would like a small portion of the Elixir," Cramshak said hesitantly. "The healing properties of the panacea are legendary."

"You can have access to the panacea without charge," Hermione said. "Please, let us pay you for your craft."

"I won't hear of it," Cramshak said as he ushered them back upstairs. "I made enough profit off of Mr. Potter's last two purchases. The privilege and honor of being asked to cut the Lapis Philosophorum is ample compensation."

"Thank you," Harry said. He knew Cramshak was determined to do this for them and that was fine with him.

"Now you should go," Cramshak said once they were back in the main part of his shop. "The Ministry keeps a close watch on the goblins these days and anyone who seems too connected to them."

"Don't worry, we can evade the Ministry," Hermione said.

"Of course," Cramshak said. "Good health to you both."

Harry and Hermione gave slight bows in acknowledgement before slipping back out into the street, the hoods of their black cloaks once again firmly in place. More strange Ministry guards were standing around and Harry noticed that they were equipped with bows, which were odd weapons for wizards. Harry continued to stare at them until he was able to disappear with a loud crack of apparition calculated to ensure that anyone unusually attentive wouldn't notice the couple's normally silent departure.

"Why didn't we just appear in the living room?" Harry asked as they walked up the short path to the two story house that bore the signs of just being newly constructed.

"Because they might have company or something," Hermione replied. "Are you really that impatient to see them?"

"Of course," Harry said. His hand rapped on the front door sharply. "Your parents are great. I just hope they're still happy to see me after everything they went through last year."

"You know they like you silly," Hermione replied lightly since she knew Harry was joking.

"Hermione, you're back," Sarah Granger exclaimed excitedly from the now open doorway.

"Mum," Hermione gushed happily as she gave her an enthusiastic hug. Sarah ushered them both inside and into the dining room where Erwin was sitting at the table drinking water.

"How are my two favorite kids doing?" Erwin asked affably as they were sitting down.

"We're fine Dad," Hermione said happily.

"So where did you two disappear off to?" Sarah asked. "And don't say somewhere tropical Hermione. I can read you like a book and your skin is so pale it looks like you've spent the last two months inside a crypt."

"Well, we had some things that we needed to take care of," Hermione said hesitantly.

"You didn't spend your whole honeymoon inside a crypt did you?" Erwin asked.

"No Daddy, of course not," Hermione said quickly. "It's just that the dementors were taking care of Voldemort's old mansion and we needed to make sure that there wasn't anything dangerous there that the remaining Death Eaters might try to get possession of."

"See Erwin, I told you so," Sarah said lightly. "I trust that you didn't find anything too dangerous."

"Not really dangerous to us," Hermione said. "Voldemort had assembled the most amazing library though. There were so many books that we'd never seen before."

Erwin chuckled slightly at Hermione's enthusiasm. "Well, I hope you kids will take a break now," he said.

"Actually, we hoped we could rest here for a day or two," Harry said. "We don't want to show up in the magical world where we might be spotted, or even in the muggle world. Plus, we really should set up some wards around your house."

"Speaking of that, do you think you could take a look out back in the yard," Erwin said. "Seems that it's cursed or some such and I wanted to put a storage shed there."

"That must be a pretty strong curse if the wizards that checked everything over couldn't break it," Hermione commented. Wizards often cursed the places they attacked so that they wouldn't support a structure as a way of adding insult to injury. If the person whose property was inflicted with the curse couldn't find a way to break it they might even lose the use of their land, though such a complication was rare in modern times.

"There were several avatars here after all," Harry said.

"We'll be back in a minute Mum," Hermione said. She grabbed Harry's hand and led him outside. Sarah's voice echoed after them that she would go ahead and start dinner.

"You mind if I watch?" Erwin asked as he followed them out.

"I doubt there's going to be anything to see, but you can if you want." Hermione replied.

The three walked together for the short distance to a large bare indented spot in the ground where the foundation of the Granger's old house used to sit. There had been ample time in the midst of the warm weather for grass or weeds to grow, but the spot was still completely barren and smooth.

"There's some kind of curse here all right," Harry said as he and Hermione took out their wands and cast a spell that manifested itself as a willowy yellow light. The spell was designed to detect and undo all sorts of curses, hexes, and jinxes.

"Its one I'm not familiar with though," Hermione said. Each curse reacted in its own way to attempts to undo its affects and some were almost impossible to undo. Harry's arm that had touched the dementor was for all practical purposes simply suffering under a persistent curse.

"It looks like a black snake," Harry said as he redoubled the intensity of the light emanating from his wand.

"Harry, get back," Hermione said suddenly. She spun and flicked her wand as the curse tried to defend itself. Her first spell sent her dad sliding backwards a dozen feet and her second arrested the movement of the curse's reaction. Harry had leapt away too and landed on the other side of the cursed ground. His spell connected with Hermione's and now caught in an intense crossfire of magical light the black writhing form of the curse dissolved away.

Erwin rushed over quickly as both teens faltered slightly. "Are you two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, we just strained ourselves a little," Harry said.

"Was it really that bad of a curse?" Erwin asked they walked back toward the house slowly. Before they could answer Sarah was calling to them from the doorway.

"I heard yelling, is everything all right?" she asked concernedly.

"We're fine Mum, we're just tired," Hermione said as they made their way inside and back to the dining room table.

"You two don't look very fine," Erwin commented. They looked pale and exhausted, like they'd just run a marathon. Erwin had thought that they looked sickly when they first arrived, but fighting the curse had really laid their weakness bare.

"We've been using our powers a lot recently trying to learn new spells and in working on another project," Hermione said elusively. Part of the process to create the Sorcerer's Stone involved heavy infusions of magical energy.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to dear," Sarah said gently. Hermione winced slightly at her mother's ability to see through her. Then again, it wasn't surprising since her parents had been there at Grimmauld Place for much of the war and as a result had seen them many times just after they had finished pushing their magical abilities to their limits.

"Mum, I don't want you to worry, but we have been injured quite a few times," Hermione said. She remembered the terrible curse that had covered her body with hundreds of tiny, but deep cuts. "We can use our magic to heal ourselves, but some of the injuries are persistent."

"Like Harry's arm?" Erwin said.

"That's one of the most visible wounds," Harry replied ruefully, his withered hand clenching reflexively. "But you really shouldn't worry, honestly. We've been working on a permanent cure, right Hermione."

"Right," Hermione said brightly. "So no more talk of curses, I want to know how everyone's been doing. Weren't you guys going to have a mini family reunion to celebrate getting out of Grimmauld Place?"

From there the rest of the evening was a happier even filled with all the happenings in the lives of various distant relatives and family friends, many of which Harry hadn't even heard of before. The conversation eventually ended up in the living room where it lasted into the evening until the Granger's finally announced that they were going to go get some sleep.

"They never were night owls," Hermione said with a laugh after her parents had gone upstairs. She had told them that she wanted to stay up a little longer with Harry and watch some TV since it had been ages since she'd seen any.

"I'm not much of one myself," Harry said as he stretched out on the soft sofa. To his delight Hermione snuggled up next to him. "I think I could go to sleep right here."

It was still dark the next morning when flashes of lightening unaccompanied by thunder woke Sarah Granger from her sleep. She got up and in the process of stirring around she realized that Erwin had been disturbed too.

"It's too early to fix breakfast," Erwin said quietly as they padded down the stairs.

"Well, you know I can't go back to sleep this close to morning," Sarah whispered back.

"Maybe there's something on the wireless," Erwin said. He nearly ran into his wife's back as she stopped suddenly in the entryway to the living room. There on the sofa was Harry and Hermione just like they had left them last night, minus their shoes, asleep on the sofa. Hermione looked especially peaceful with her bushy hair partially obscuring Harry's face.

"How cute," Sarah said happily. She sighed as she felt Erwin's arm wrap itself around her and together they stood silently, thankful that their daughter and the man they considered their son had come through their dreadful war safely. They were about to move on into the dining room when they heard a strange scuffling noise coming from outside the front door.

"What is that?" Erwin asked. He pointed to Harry and Hermione where their clothes were moving strangely.

"It's their wands!" Sarah exclaimed. Sure enough, two slender pieces of wood had gently freed themselves and were slowly floating away toward the front door.

Before either of them could do anything there was a yell from outside followed by a blindingly intense flash of green light that vaporized their front door. Thick unnatural smoke poured through the room to mask whatever was outside, but jets of red light were lashing out into the room. Sarah felt Erwin's arms pull her backward as she saw Harry and Hermione trying to get off of the sofa. Several of the red colored spells had hit them, but they were still moving.

"My wand's gone," Hermione said in a voice that was entirely too calm as she dodged two spells deftly. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and grasped a small sphere that she had started carrying around recently. "We were careless."

"Mine too," Harry said. He produced a sphere much like Hermione's, but with the properties that he favored. "_I'm glad we created these stored spells now._"

Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously and a fiery shield erected itself between the young couple and their attackers. The smoke cleared out of the room to reveal a dozen men in dark blue robes squeezing into the room, using overlapping shields out of caution even though the had confiscated their opponent's wands. They were wearing red eyepieces and had silvery metallic armor on their left arms.

"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, we have your wands so surrender and no one will get hurt," the lead hit wizard said. "We have a warrant for your arrest from the Minister of Magic himself."

"Fudge?" Harry asked incredulously. Meanwhile he was digging though his other pocket and he noticed that Hermione had already pinned a small silver triangle onto her shoulder. "That blowhard wants to arrest us?"

He finally found his own armor and pinned it on. There was a slight metallic clicking noise as Harry and Hermione's left arms were covered in the magic resistant material.

"We haven't done anything wrong," Hermione said futilely. However, the hit wizards had already started using spells again at the first sign of their armor. Hermione lashed out with long ropes of fire emanating from her orb, but the armor and shields of the hit wizards easily deflected it.

"_They're using our equipment,_" Harry said furiously. Black lightening seared out and intercepted a slew of incoming spells. The room was filled with an explosion for an instant as the spells decompressed, followed by a strong rush of displaced air.

Hermione realized with a sinking feeling that they had just discovered why the Ministry had been busily looting battlefields for the past year. They had been eager to learn the secrets of Light Bearer and Death Eater alike, incorporating their enemies' strengths into their own. Harry and Hermione on the other hand had never really faced the Ministry in a serious protracted battle.

"_Rush them_," Hermione's voice echoed through Harry's mind. As one they surged forward, though at the speed of a normal human since they couldn't cast an acceleration charm without a wand. Fortunately, the tactic was completely unexpected to the wizards and they managed to close in. Harry's first punch broke bone and collapsed organs as the enchanted metal connected with the leading hit wizard's robed body. He followed up his physical attack with a random release of lighting at the foes clustered around them. Next to him Hermione had used a similar tactic only with fire.

"_I don't think we can beat them all,_" Harry said as he felt his back slam against the far wall. The two teens had been repelled by the hit wizards who were desperate to fight at range again. Even though they had armor too they were not at all well at using it.

"_We've got to try,_" Hermione said, stating the obvious. "_If we run they'll get us for sure. We'd never make it to the edge of the anti-apparation field._"

"_We can't leave your parents either,_" Harry said. Although he considered that leaving them might be safer since the wizards were obviously interested in him and Hermione.

A burley hit wizard waved his wand in a slashing motion, the arch of which cause the air to warp an instant before it spewed out a rain of deadly metal shards. Hermione's eyes glowed again and the shards melted in the air to fell to the floor as great hissing drops. She retaliated with liquid fire that clung to armor, clothing, and skin alike as Harry shot down incoming spells with tiny fingers of blue lightening.

Hermione's sphere let out a thin coil of bluish flame that took on a semi-corporeal quality. With a flick of her wrist the coil of flame wrapped itself around the torso of the nearest hit wizard and seared though his robes into the flesh beneath. He screamed and leapt away as Hermione focused her new attack on someone else. From the midst of the attackers two new figures appeared and a dainty hand shot out to grasp Hermione's flame. It crumbled away in ash as soon as her fingers clamped down on it.

"Do you need help after all?" a high pitched voice giggled.

"You have their wands," another deeper voice said with clear irritation. "Now finish them off before their reinforcements arrive."

"_I wish we had reinforcements,_" Harry said ruefully.

"_Oh yeah,_" Hermione replied. "_I'm starting to run out of magic._"

Harry looked down at his own sphere and noticed that it was only about a quarter of its original size.

"_We've got to tip the balance,_" Harry said, deciding that maybe running was their only bad option left. "_If we use the rest of our magic at once we might be able to distract them long enough to break through the wall. If we can run to the edge of the anti-apparation field we can escape._"

Hermione nodded and began gathering the energy left in her sphere for instant use. Fire and lightening solidified unnaturally before swirling together in a flat rectangular mass of cohesive magic. With a small pop the two spheres of stored magic disappeared and the blunt force of the remaining stored magic was unleashed. Harry turned to punch a hole through the wall with his armor and Hermione stepped in front of him to cover his back with her armor's shield.

From the sidelines the two Granger's gaped at the roiling wall of shimmering flame and lightening that bore down on the Ministry forces. Their hope turned to horror as the new gentleman with a snake emblem on his cloak waved a hand and caused the onrushing attack to evaporate like smoke in a fierce wind. As Harry and Hermione's last bit of magic vanished the hit wizards unleashed a barrage of red stunning spells. Hermione tried to block them, but with only a physical shield the exposed parts of her body were struck repeatedly until she crumpled to the floor. Harry was then immediately cut down too since his back was turned and completely unprotected.

"Recall the wards," one of the hit wizards said. He walked over to where the teens lay unconscious and delivered a vicious kick into Hermione's ribcage. "Filthy mudblood."

Several pieces of paper fluttered through the walls and tucked themselves neatly into a box that one of the hit wizards held out. Harry and Hermione were bound up roughly with conjured wire before portkeys were pinned onto them. The Ministry warriors apparated away an instant after their two captives vanished via portkey, undoubtedly to some holding cell.

A girlish giggling laugh was the last thing that the Granger's heard from the attackers as they vanished away.


	6. Chapter 6 – The Hammer Falls

Chapter 6 – The Hammer Falls

Sarah pulled back on Erwin to keep him from rushing out into the living room where she knew he would likely be killed instantly. Their only choice was to watch as their daughter and son-in-law were abducted from their living room.

"We've got to get their friends," Sarah said, once the wizards had vanished away via portkey. Her voice quivered yet was still filled with iron. "Who knows how much time they have left, but they wanted them alive so we've still got a chance."

Erwin's face was ashen, but he nodded in agreement and followed his wife upstairs to where they kept the portkeys that Hermione had given them back when they were all still at Grimmauld Place. Thankfully, the Ministry wizards appeared to have recalled their enchantments as they left so they were hopeful that they could leave immediately.

Sarah cursed her shaky fingers as she tried to sequence the crystals on the top of the ornate box that Erwin had drug down from the top shelf of their closet. Finally, the magical lock clicked open, the lid lifting of its own accord, to reveal several long thin metal rods each of which were roughly two hand lengths long. She picked up the one that was engraved with the letters GP and held it out for Erwin. The instant his grip tightened on the other end of the portkey there was a swirl of color followed by an abrupt jarring landing in the middle of the entrance hall at Grimmauld Place.

"Dobby!" Sarah yelled out.

"Dobby!" Erwin echoed. There was a sharp crack as the little elf appeared.

"Masters Granger," Dobby said happily. "Dobby is happy to see Missus' elders."

"Dobby, you've got to listen very carefully," Sarah said urgently. "Wizards from the Ministry came and took Harry and Hermione. We don't know where they went."

Dobby's usually pleasant face twisted in rage. "Masters Granger wait here with Winky while Dobby goes to get Harry's Wheezy." Dobby said darkly. Before either Granger could say anything he disappeared with a sharp pop.

Minerva McGonagall sat back, with tea in hand, in the plush chair that had once belonged to Albus Dumbledore before he had passed his position as Headmaster onto her. Now Dumbledore was away doing who knew what in some old moldy place that he had mentioned to her with the greatest tone of disinterest. She was amazed that the place actually held such significance to him considering how little he had ever spoken of it.

The stone gargoyles guarding the entrance to her office grated open and McGonagall's eyes flitted down to the scrap of parchment that had been delivered to her hand a few minutes before by the strange house elf Dobby. Pain flickered across her eyes briefly, even though she had always secretly suspected that this day would come.

"We came as soon as we heard Headmaster," Professor Flitwick said. With him was all the surviving staff of Hogwarts, even Professor Trelawney. Except for the terrible loss of Hagrid, Hogwarts had come out of the war with its staff almost entirely intact.

"Do we know where they're keeping them?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Or why they're keeping them?" Professor Weasley asked. Charlie had taken over Hagrid's old position as Care of Magical Creature's Professor.

"No and no," McGonagall replied, "But we can make some good guesses. Charlie, where is Bill?"

Bill Weasley had taken McGonagall's old spot of transfiguration teacher thanks to his experience as a treasure hunter for the goblins. Despite the job's reputation it was about more than just breaking curses.

"He's still training little Ronnikins," Charlie said. "Dobby's off looking for them though."

McGonagall made a "harrumphing" noise and peered down her long nose at the wily dragon taming Weasley. "I'm glad at least one Weasley is getting more serious," she said tartly.

"I hate to be the one to point out the obvious," Professor Snape said sourly, "But what exactly do any of you think you're going to do? Even if you find out where Potter is being held and ignoring for the moment that he's been arrested, he'll be heavily guarded by Fudge's top hit wizards."

"I know what a Ministry hit wizard can do," McGonagall snapped. "We'll think of a way."

"We must try," Sprout said uncomfortably. "Even if the odds are against us…"

Snape stirred from his location and moved toward the back of the chamber with hands clasped behind his back.

"I take it you disagree Severus?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm just surprised that you are so eager to defy the Ministry," Snape said quietly. "The Dark Lord is vanquished. If the Ministry needs to assure itself that the one who defeated him is not a rebel or a criminal then why not let justice play out? Surely Potter would be acquitted."

"You know what kind of man Fudge is," McGonagall replied tersely. "After what he tried to do to Albus, what he would have done to him had Albus ever come within his grasp. Whatever trial is held will be the same kind of farce that the trials were back after He fell from power the first time. We've got to rescue Harry and Hermione now, while we still can."

"I expected as much," Snape said. "Well, you had your chance."

"Severus, what-" McGonagall said as Snape tossed a dozen small pebbles onto the floor where they vanished. She had only half risen from her chair when Ministry wizards appeared where the tiny spherical portkeys had vanished.

Several professors fell stunned from the initial volley in the confusion following Snape's betrayal. There was an explosion of smoke as McGonagall finally got her wand out.

"We can't outrun them and we can't apparate," Professor Sprout wheezed during their rapid descent down the stairs from the Headmaster's office.

"They had it all planned out," Charlie said, indicating a small coin in his hand. "They have allies somewhere that threw up new portkey interdiction wards right after they appeared."

"They've been planning this ever since Albus left," McGonagall said. There was a burst of spell fire and Sprout went down hard, but Charlie and McGonagall managed to duck into a side hall for shelter.

"Go on ahead Charlie," McGonagall said.

"C-c-can't m-move," Charlie stammered. McGonagall looked closely at the young wizard and saw that he was enveloped in a dark spell.

"Surrender," a voice yelled from down the hall.

McGonagall took a deep breath and sidestepped quickly into the hallway with the reassuring presence of the ancient castle all around her. She might not be Dumbledore, but these wizards would find out why the Headmaster of Hogwarts was a position that had commanded respect for so many centuries.

"I refuse," McGonagall said simply. A flurry of spells lanced out, but as quickly as they were loosed they evaporated in midair.

"Rush her!" the lead hit wizard shouted.

"Stop!" Snape's magically enhanced voice commanded.

"Severus, what are you doing?" a confused voice replied.

"Idiot," Snape hissed. "That isn't just the Headmaster, that's Minerva McGonagall. You're a hundred years too young to cross wands with her in this place."

"So you were a traitor after all Severus." She said calmly, her lips pursed together in her trademark smile.

"Don't be ridiculous," Snape replied. "I've always been loyal, just not to Dumbledore. Its ironic really, you all suspected me of being loyal to the Dark Lord when I was really in the employ of the Ministry. With my background I was the perfect person to infiltrate the only other organization other than the Ministry that had the power to interfere with the Dark Lord's ambitions."

"You're a fool Snape, but you're right about one thing, you'll never beat me here," McGonagall said.

"I know I won't defeat you," Snape replied. A tall woman with long blonde hair stepped lightly through the crowd of wizards. "She will."

McGonagall's eyes flashed and to the wizards standing in the hall before her it seemed as if she were transformed. To their eyes the walls of Hogwarts began to close in even as McGonagall's thin frail form seems to grow to fill every inch of space around them. Green fire erupted all around, singeing robes and overpowering minds through its terrible magic until several of the hit wizards fell down unconscious.

There was a sharp crack and reality returned to normal. McGonagall was thrown backwards onto the hard stone floor, her incantation broken. Sense Artemis grinned with amusement and sent a hail of tiny crystal shards pelting down on the Headmaster's prone form. The shards impacted McGonagall's body and for a moment everyone thought that she was surely dead.

"That won't be enough to kill me in this place," McGonagall said harshly as she propelled herself back to her feet with magical rapidity.

Sense surged forward, her long robes seeming to glide over the floor as she moved, and conjured several long lashes of fire. McGonagall dodged the first two slashing tendrils of fire and smirked slightly when Sense staggered unexpectedly, as if an immense weight had been placed on her back.

"What an interesting enchantment," Sense said lightly. She trembled slightly as she forced herself back into an upright position.

"Now you'll see why no Headmaster has ever been defeated inside these walls," McGonagall said proudly.

"Are you sure?" Sense replied. "From what I hear your predecessor didn't fair all that well…"

McGonagall's jaw clenched as she remembered Albus being overcome by Voldemort because that madman had created some ridiculous enchantment based off of something Salazar Slytherin had first invented to overcome Hogwarts' natural defenses. She pointed her wand at her hand and cast a spell that caused the limb to turn black. Sense tried to step back as McGonagall lunged toward her, but stumbled again. The blackness on McGonagall's hand flowed onto Sense where she was touched and slowly enveloped most of her body.

"It's over," McGonagall said sharply. "In this place my magic is enhanced while your every movement is jinxed and impeded. None of you ever had a chance."

Sense reeled from one spell after another, but somehow managed to erect a bright silver shield to absorb most of the blows. She was swiftly backed against the wall in the gloomy corridor amidst the flashes of spell fire glancing off of her shield. Suddenly Sense's partially obscured form gave of a bright heat as if she had immolated. McGonagall stepped back, her hand going reflexive in front of her eyes to block out the intense glare.

"It _is_ over," Sense said as her magic threw off McGonagall's earlier spell.

"Impossible, no one has ever broken the Touch before," McGonagall said.

"You've never faced someone like me," Sense said. Her visage had transformed from bright and cheery to an expression so cold that McGonagall unconsciously flinched. Sense threw long torrents of fire, but instead of burning this fire froze everything it touched and put off great bursts of icy fog. McGonagall leapt away with unnatural agility as she felt her arm and torso became engulfed by the bizarre fire.

With a flash the crushing weight of Hogwarts' presence disappeared, the walls no longer seemed alive or ominous. Sense looked around for her opponent but saw nothing except the shadow of a cat racing away before Snape came limping up.

"Did you get her?" he snarled.

"No, I'm afraid she escaped with that rare talent of hers," Sense replied thoughtfully.

Snape scowled, but made no comment. McGonagall was no Dumbledore; if she wanted to become a fugitive it would matter little in the grand scheme of things. Now that she was dislodged from Hogwarts' her influence would diminish greatly and with Potter already captured the Ministry had won.

"Inform Madam Umbridge and Mr. Weasley," Sense said, shaking Snape out of his thoughts. "Tell them that the school is ready for their inspection."

Ronald Weasley sat, seemingly despondent to those all around him, idly fingering the shiny golden torch shaped emblem that hung from a fine chain around his neck. He had been learning new spells from Bill when Dobby had arrived and told him what was going on in the world outside the Burrow. Suddenly Ron felt like he understood a bit better how Harry had felt for all those years when suddenly the lives of his friends were at stake and everyone was looking to him to do something about it. Even during the war when he had coordinated the efforts the focus of expectations had always rested on Harry. Now they rested on him.

A crack sounded outside the Burrow and two wizards came stumbling in. Their robes were singed and they looked like they'd just been mauled by something big. Another crack sounded and Luna appeared along with her father, though she was in considerably better shape.

"We're getting ripped apart out there," Luna said with her voice as soft as usual. "Not _us_ really, I mean, there aren't many of us anymore, but the Ministry is rounding up a lot of people."

"Do we have any idea precisely where Harry and Hermione have been taken?" Ron asked.

"Well, I'm sure they're within the Ministry complex," Bill said. "But as to where exactly, who knows…"

"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," Luna said.

"Brooms," a voice from outside the Burrow called out. Ron, Luna, and Bill drew wands and rushed outside in case it was an attack.

"Its Remus and Tonks," Ron said, slightly irritated that he'd been worried for nothing.

"Tonks is holding something," Luna observed.

"Get Molly out here," Remus' magically enhanced voice yelled. Luna ran off to get her while Bill and Ron went out to meet the two incoming werewolves.

"It's McGonagall," Tonks said hurriedly. "I don't know how she found us, but she turned up looking like this. She was too weak to apparate, but was barely able to transform back into her cat form for the trip over here."

"What is that?" Ron asked. Even in her cat form McGonagall's body was covered in frost burns that seemed to be threatening to creep over the few places where she remained uninjured. McGonagall quivered slightly and then suddenly transformed back into her normal shape.

"Use an impediment charm," McGonagall wheezed in a pain filled voice.

"What happened?" Ron asked as Tonks administered the charm. Immediately the frost stopped progressing.

"Snape betrayed us," McGonagall said, her voice still strained. "A group of Ministry wizards portkeyed in, one of them overpowered me."

"Snape," Ron growled as Molly and Luna ran up. Molly took out some prepared potions designed for medical use, but McGonagall feebly pushed them away.

"That won't help, I need a wand," she explained. Her eyes lost focus for a moment. "I lost my wand."

"No, Minerva, its right here," Remus said gently as he extracted the thin piece of wood from the sleeve of his robe and pressed it into her hand. "I picked it up when you arrived."

Minerva didn't say anything, but her condition began to improve almost immediately. The icy tendrils left by Sense's attack receded until they disappeared entirely.

"Thank goodness," McGonagall said with a faint smile. "I would have hated to lose my chosen wand."

"What on earth did you do to stop such a spell?" Molly asked. Ron had been wondering exactly the same thing.

"If you stay around Albus for long enough you learn a few tricks," McGonagall said evasively as she stood up and began walking back toward the Burrow with Ron helping support her.

"You said Snape betrayed us?" Luna asked. "Did anyone else escape?"

"I'm afraid not," McGonagall replied. She sat down wearily once they made it inside the Burrow. "Snape had brought portkeys onto the premise and used them to allow the Ministry's enforcers to get inside. It seems that our fears from last year are confirmed. The Ministry has enlisted help from the continent."

"You mean those people I saw arriving at Rosyth?" Ron said.

"Probably," McGonagall said. "The continent doesn't like to advertise its capabilities, but it's likely that the Ministry is being aided by its most elite agents. The woman I fought was almost certainly Sense Artemis."

"If that's the case then her brother Septimus can't be far behind," Bill said. "We won't be able to rescue Harry and Hermione if people like that are guarding them."

"Hold on," Ron said, "Just who is this Artemis family."

"Not much is known about them, the continent is keen to protect the identities of its agents, but they're the third generation of powerful wizards who have worked for the military created by the continental treaty of alliance," McGonagall said. "They're reputed to be some the greatest mages in the entire mainland."

"This is bad," Ron said, fighting down a feeling of despair. "We don't know enough about the new ministry headquarters to infiltrate it on such short notice and apparently it would be futile to attempt a head on attack."

"If Minerva couldn't defeat her attacker on the grounds at Hogwarts then it would be quite impossible," Bill said.

"Then I guess we'll just have to do something about it," McGonagall said sternly. "Remus, I'll need your help, and Ronald, I'm going to need some of Hermione's old wards…"

Hermione felt a sharp stinging sensation on her cheek as her eyes fluttered and tried to open again. Jumbled memories of the Ministry's raid against her parent's house came flooding back at the same instant as her brain recognized the stinging sensation as the sharp aftereffect of an open handed blow. She tilted her head to the left slightly and saw Harry, still unconscious, was being administered a much harsher beating as the assorted Ministry officials attempted to wake him. Finally, the wizard hitting him stopped and administered a spell that accomplished their purpose.

"Crowd in everybody, they've finally come round," the lead hit wizard said triumphantly. Hermione suddenly realized that most of the room was dark with a bright light being shined down on herself and Harry in the center. The rustle of cloaks from the surrounding darkness revealed that the room was crowded, probably with ministry personnel like aurors or other hit wizards.

"Not much to look at," one of them said in a gruff voice.

"No kidding," another voice agreed. "The greatest witch of the living generations? More like the homeliest witch."

Hermione flushed as the lot of them laughed and started cracking jokes about the Chosen One and his homeliest witch. Her embarrassment was dwarfed by the amount of indignation on her behalf that was radiating off of Harry.

"_Don't listen to them, you know you're beautiful,_" Harry's voice echoed through her mind via their link.

"_Thank you Harry,_" Hermione replied. She had always been a little self conscious about her image; she knew that there were many other more glamorous girls with better hair and distinguished features, but Harry had loved her for who she was and that had made her feel more beautiful than the approval of her shallow peers.

"What is it she's wearing," another one asked.

"It looks like a blood ring," a third replied. "The mudblood thinks she's a princess."

"A princess with a bracelet like that?" a fourth cackled. Hermione was silently thankful for the spells her jewelry contained that prevented casual removal.

"All right," the lead hit wizard said finally. "We'd better get this show on the road before the trial begins. You wanted first crack at them didn't you Morris?"

"That's okay," said an oddly familiar voice. "I'm afraid there wouldn't be much left for you to interrogate if I went first…"

The reason for the familiarity became apparent as Morris stepped into the light. "Hermione Granger," he said menacingly as he uncovered the ghastly skeletal remains of his right arm. "You remember the curse you placed on me…"

"You were…Death Eater," Hermione choked out. Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed full of coppery tasting cotton balls.

"I was a Ministry spy," he spat out angrily.

"You should have surrendered," Harry interjected.

"No, you children shouldn't have defied the Ministry," the lead hit wizard intoned. The jovial atmosphere from before had utterly vanished. "Now you'll suffer the consequences."

"Are you crazy?" Hermione said her voice strengthening. "The Ministry tried to kill Harry and in case you didn't notice we saved England from Voldemort."

"Pardon us if we refrain from overflowing with joy," Morris said bitterly.

"It's true that you defeated the Dark Lord," the lead hit wizard admitted. "However, the Minister believes that your intentions were less than benevolent. I wonder…a witch and a wizard powerful enough to defeat the dark wizard that threatened all of England…what will you do with that power?"

"We already know of their cruelty," Morris said, his good hand stroking the skeletal remains of his bad.

"You're crazy," Harry said vehemently. "We just want to be left alone."

"We're not the ones who tried to get rid of Voldemort by killing someone else," Hermione added.

"Possibly," the hit wizard admitted, "But unlikely. I think it's more likely that you're biding your time. Where are all the dementors? Where is the lair of the Dark Lord?"

Harry and Hermione just sat there, unsure of what to say. Their interrogator took out his wand and tapped it against his chin thoughtfully before giving them a nasty grin.

"Still, I suppose we should thank you for getting rid of that half blooded scum that dared call himself a Dark Lord," he said. "Not that you two are any better. I promise a swift death after we get the information we need."

The lead hit wizard conjured up a chair and sat down in front of them. He leaned back luxuriously for a moment before moving closer, his head right between Harry and Hermione's, as if to tell an important secret. "To be honest," he whispered into their ears, "We don't care; the Minister has decided that your kind have gotten too arrogant, demanding rights for house elves and giants. You've trampled on pureblood generosity for too long and now we're taking it back. How better to put an end to all this than by eliminating the mudblood's most prominent champions?"

Harry and Hermione gaped in horror at their capturer as he leaned back and made a motion to his subordinates.

"The half blood and the mudblood," another hit wizard said. "I can't wait to see which breaks first."

"Hold their mouths open," one of the hit wizards commanded in response to the lead hit wizard's gesture.

"I bet the two of you are quite adept at controlling the pain of the Cruciatus Curse by now," a voice said as they were force fed a potion. "Unfortunately for you, this potion will negate that control for a while and without your wands, well, it'll be like getting hit with it for the first time all over again."

"Then be sure to keep count," the lead hit wizard said as he pointed his wand at Harry.

Hermione winced as the effects of the Cruciatus Curse caused Harry's body to convulse with pain. She had little time to sympathize before the same spell hit her. From there neither of them was sure how much time passed, though it couldn't have been as long as it seemed.

"Why won't you tell us what we want to know?" the lead hit wizard, whose name they discovered was Derdiarian, said with a voice filled with frustration. He pulled back his wand and delivered a sharp kick that knocked Hermione out of her chair. Through the fog of spell induced torment Hermione felt her ribs crack and break as more blows landed on her helpless form.

"Pick her up," Derdiarian said impatiently after he tired. Hermione felt like her insides had been pulverized as rough hands set her upright in her chair again.

"Unbelievable," Derdiarian said quietly to himself as several small metal slivers materialized out of the end of his wand. "Even with the potion their minds are stronger than anything I've seen before. Is this the power of the bonded souls?"

The slivers of metal began to spin rapidly before descending on Harry and Hermione's skin. The slivers churned their way through their bodies, turning a swath of flesh into what amounted to finely ground hamburger. As soon as the miniature blades had finished their grizzly work two other hit wizards applied a healing spell to cover over the damage and then Derdiarian began again. Over and over they went through the process, even after everyone present had decided that it was pointless to extract information from their prisoners.

The door to the interrogation room opened for a moment and a voice announced that the trial would begin soon. Derdiarian sighed and stood up, unhappy with his failure, but consoled by the fact that the two greatest champions of the muggles, mudbloods, and monsters would soon be facing justice at last.

"Morris, just don't kill them," Derdiarian said as he turned to leave the room.

"Oh, I won't kill them," Morris said. "I don't even care about the Chosen One. I just want the mudblood to get a taste of her own medicine."

Morris walked over slowly to where Hermione sat uncomfortably on several broken bones and gave her blood stained cheek a fumbled caress with his skeletal limb.

"Can you hear me?" Morris asked nastily as he prodded Hermione where he estimated she was suffering from internal injuries. "Your little curse was so effective it inspired me to study it myself. Let's find out how good of a student I am, shall we?"

Morris concentrated for a moment before a rope like spell the color of a rotting orange inched its way out of his wand and wrapped itself around Hermione's right arm. There was a moment where Hermione's natural magical defense, those that all witches and wizards possess, fought the auror's curse, but then her weakened body succumbed to the spell. Hermione's arm putrefied, the flesh nearly liquid as it sloughed from her bones, as she screamed from the intense pain. Harry thrashed violently and fell out of his chair, unconscious.

"Minister Fudge, welcome to Gringotts," Grimshaw said politely as the Minister along with a half dozen aurors burst through the door that separated the employee's area from the customer's lobby.

"I have a Wizengamot order here for you to open the Potter family vault," Fudge said shortly, with a clipped tone of voice.

"This is most unusual," Grimshaw said worriedly as he inspected the order.

"It's in accordance with the new directive the Wizengamot instituted mandating that all capital punishment traitors have their assets seized by the Ministry," Fudge said.

"Then, you mean to say, Mr. Potter has been executed?" Grimshaw sputtered, his face draining of color.

"Not yet," Fudge admitted. "His sentence is all but decided though. The Ministry is eager to inspect what treasures a family as old as Potter has hid away."

Grimshaw led the way to the cart that was used to access the vast network of underground vaults. He glanced at the wizards nervously and tried to select his words carefully.

"Minister Fudge," Grimshaw said. "I'm afraid that Mr. Potter removed what few personal items were stored here some time ago. All that is left is some monetary resources."

"That will be fine," Fudge replied. "The Ministry has no use for old photos after all."

Grimshaw cringed as he jumped off of the cart onto the platform in front of the Potter family vault. "You see, Minister, I am somewhat familiar with the Potter account and…"

"Just open the door," Fudge demanded, cutting the goblin administrator off. Grimshaw nodded and complied, using the master key that the bank used when it needed to add interest or fulfill customer requests when the customer could not appear personally. The bank didn't like to advertise the existence of such a key, preferring to keep it, as one might say, low key. Fudge stepped inside and Grimshaw tried to step back.

"What is the meaning of this?" Fudge yelled. Immediately several wands were pointing at Grimshaw and he found himself being hauled into the vault before Fudge.

"I must protest Minister," Grimshaw said. "I will not be manhandled on my own premises."

"What kind of joke is this," Fudge said, not listening to Grimshaw's complaints. He was pointing to the small pile of coins that were sitting on a wooden table in the center of the cavernous vault.

"That is the total assets of this vault," Grimshaw replied stiffly.

"There can't be more than a couple hundred sickles and half as many knuts here," Fudge roared. "The Potter fortune contains some millions of galleons, _where are they_?"

"Minister, I assure you, this is all that's left," Grimshaw said. "Mr. Potter has been withdrawing heavily during the last year. My accountants were usually one step removed from his transactions, but I speculate he used his own money to fund his, er..."

"The Bearers of the Light," Fudge snarled. "You expect me to believe that rot. I know for a fact Gringotts won't maintain a vault of this size without a larger deposit than a couple hundred lousy sickles."

"Minister, you are free to examine our records of course, as is your privilege, but I assure you that this is the entirety of the Potter assets in Gringotts. As you are aware, Potter is an ancient family and as such we long ago entered into a binding contract to maintain this vault even if we are forced to keep it empty. So long as a single Potter from the direct line remains alive this vault will stay as it is." Grimshaw explained.

"Well then," Fudge snarled, "You're about to have some new space for rent."

Harry awoke unsure of how much time had passed since he had watched that curse maim Hermione before his eyes. His visage hardened as he saw her unconscious form only a few feet away from him, her arm still matted with blood around the area where the curse's effects had stopped. Hermione stirred and Harry reached out with his thoughts in hopes that she would finish awakening.

"_Harry_," Hermione's voice echoed through his head.

"_I'm here_," Harry replied. "_Don't worry, everything is going to be okay_."

"_I know_," Hermione replied. Harry was taken aback for a second. He had said that mainly for her benefit, not as a thoughtful analysis of their current situation.

"_Ron and McGonagall will come for us_," Hermione continued. "_If we can just get the Stone we can fix everything_."

"_Then what will we do_?" Harry asked. "_We can't let Fudge get away with this_."

"_Fudge_," Hermione said bitterly. "_How could he do this to you, after all you've gone through_?"

"_You've done just as much to stop Voldemort as I did_," Harry replied, unwilling to let Hermione slight herself although he was filled with relief as he contemplated all the ways that the Stone should be able to heal Hermione's injury. The rage that had threatened to build up a moment ago had been replaced with sadness at what the Ministry was trying to do and the likely consequences of their actions.

A bright light fell on the young couple as the door opened and four aurors entered. A spell lifted the two prisoners to their feet where their old bindings were stripped off. The aurors placed long white robes on them to cover up their wounds, especially Hermione's skeletal arm, before conjuring fresh bindings over the robes.

"Minister Fudge has returned," one auror informed them. "Your trial is due to begin upon your arrival."

"How about a healing charm or two?" Harry asked sarcastically as they were shoved into the hall.

"You won't need one," another auror replied with a slight laugh. "It doesn't take long to hand down a death sentence."

Hermione whimpered as a sharp elbow dug into her side. Harry felt the pain leaking across their link.

"You'd better hope we get the death sentence," Harry growled. He bit back more angry words when some kind of conjured item hit him bluntly in the back of the skull.

"No more talking traitor," the third auror growled.

Harry and Hermione grudgingly obeyed the command as they were prodded down the marble hallways. There was no need to draw more abuse from their short tempered captors.

The court was held in a huge beautifully decorated room that was stuffed full of people that Harry barely recognized as some of the leading pureblood families and government officials that made up the main power base of the magical government. Harry had flashbacks from his dip into Dumbledore's old memories of the trials after the first war as they were whisked up to the front of the room to their seats beneath the towering panel of the Wizengamot. Even though it was not the same room, the reconstructed Ministry apparently had used some of the same interior design in terms of layout, but merely constructed in a more luxurious manner. They had barely been shoved into their chairs before a small figure approached them from just outside their field of vision.

"Say nothing," Grimshaw said tersely to them as he walked past them to approach the panel.

"By what right do you approach this tribunal?" Fudge demanded.

"By right of executor in accordance with the Last Defense of Pureblood Chattels which was passed by act of Wizengamot in 1936," Grimshaw said with the practiced ease of a bureaucrat or a lawyer. Fudge's face reddened slightly at having a statute with the word "pureblood" in it being used on behalf of a half blood and a mudblood.

"_That's quite clever,_" Hermione said via their link, though even her mental voice sounded somewhat fatigued and in pain. "_Pureblood families shoved that law through to require their estate's executor to act as a last ditch advocate for their interests before the Wizengamot. I never thought it could be employed in a situation like this._"

"_Hermione, you never cease to amaze me_," Harry said, somewhat laughing despite their predicament. "_When did you find the time to look at obscure Wizengamot law?_"

"_Oh, I just saw it mentioned somewhere,_" Hermione replied. "_I think it was during third year when we were trying to find a way to save Buckbeak._"

"_Oh yeah, that,_" Harry said before falling silent. Sometimes he forgot how painful some of his past was. He again wished, and not for the first time, that he could go back and be more attentive to Hagrid during that troubling time. He squished that train of thought quickly. He had more important things to do than wallow in his own regrets right now.

"Very well," Fudge said. "What is your petition in this, the trial of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger?"

"Before I get to that, the tribunal should note that the second party is in fact Hermione Potter," Grimshaw said. Harry was surprised that there were any who were not yet aware of his and Hermione's marriage, but there were a few ripples of noise that ran through the room indicating that some were indeed taken unawares.

"Very well, it is noted," Fudge replied. "Now, your petition?"

"Advocate for the accused requests a statement of the principle charge, range of possible penalties, and an allotment of a reasonable amount of time to prepare a response to the Wizengamot's inquiry," Grimshaw replied.

"Allotment of time denied," Fudge snapped. "The principle charge is treason."

"Denial of allotment is highly unorthodox," Grimshaw sputtered.

"There is no range of penalty," Fudge continued as if the small goblin hadn't even spoken. "There is only one sanction available in this case."

"Chief Warlock, I too must protest," Madam Bones said. Fudge continued on, ignoring the elderly stateswoman.

"The sanction upon conviction by this tribunal… is death."


	7. Chapter 7 – The Light Bearers Return

Chapter 7 – The Light Bearers Return

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!" echoed with magically enhanced volume across the flatland area where the Ministry's auror station was positioned. An unnatural firestorm had completely encompassed the entire region just as fear now encompassed the hearts of the besieged aurors.

It was not the flames that frightened them however, but the appearance of one legendary wizard and the witch who had been his right hand for many long years. Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall walked unscathed through the burning countryside, their wands glowing with powerful magic.

"You put up a good fight, but now its over," Dumbledore's voice rang out. "Surrender yourselves."

Inside the Ministry stronghold the wizards who had managed to keep from being disabled in the initial onslaught that had caught them out in the open were now undoubtedly attempting to regroup and plan a counter attack. Dumbledore stroked his beard slightly and turned to an amused looking McGonagall.

"How much longer do you think it will take?" Dumbledore asked.

"With you here?" McGonagall replied. "I shouldn't think it would take much longer. I've been surprised before I suppose."

"Ah, well, I hope it's soon," Dumbledore said. He took a long thin canister out of his robes and shook it lightly. "I'm out already it seems."

"Don't worry about that for now," McGonagall said. "Shall we storm in?"

"I'm not sure that would be wise," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. His eyes twinkled as he caught subtle movement coming from the government compound. "Besides, I believe they are intending to come to us."

McGonagall gave her wand a swish and the ground before her feet became dry, cracked, and then airborne in the form of a great cloud of dust that rushed out to meet the oncoming attackers. As soon as the cloud of blinding dust had surrounded the entire area the flames began to die down. Minerva nodded to Dumbledore and together they donned the red eyepieces that had become iconic of the Light Bearers. Immediately the battlefield was laid bare to them and McGonagall saw with delight that their opponents either didn't have eyepieces or were not thinking to use them in the confusion.

The aurors weren't completely befit of their sense however. McGonagall had to dodge as several flashes of deadly green magic came close to hitting her. The remaining aurors had banded together so that they wouldn't hit each other as they fired blindly into the dust storm. Off to the side Dumbledore flicked his wand in an upward gesture that caused the ground to erupt at the feet of their enemies and scatter them. Immediately McGonagall moved swiftly with unnatural speed and grace to the nearest auror. The man made a choking noise in surprise as she stunned him into unconsciousness.

Dumbledore had made a similar move and the last remaining auror seemed to have realized that he was next since he turned around in the direction he hoped was the Ministry outpost and ran frantically. Before he had taken a half-dozen steps two lengths of conjured chain came flying in from Dumbledore and McGonagall to truss him up. As the dust settled McGonagall collected the wands and surveyed their accomplishment.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would," Dumbledore said. "The Ministry must be getting lax after all."

At that moment both he and McGonagall were thrust violently to the ground as if slapped by an invisible hand. They had to strain just to keep their grip on their wands for a moment; such was the surprise of the new arrivals to the scene.

"Ah, are these the individuals?" Dumbledore asked.

"I wouldn't forget her," McGonagall affirmed as she looked up at the two figures before them. Sense and Septimus Artemis grinned evilly in anticipation of capturing not only the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but the much celebrated Dumbledore.

"Well then, victory is ours," Dumbledore replied as he reached into his robes and touched a small sliver emblem that hung around his neck. "And just in time too."

Sense's face never lost its maniacal grin, but Septimus' look of satisfaction turned into shock and then anger as the figure of Dumbledore melted away.

Harry and Hermione sat stoically as Fudge read through their list of "offenses," both real and imagined. Every Death Eater that the Ministry could confirm they killed was chalked up as a murder. They had three counts of mass murder and war crimes alleged against them as a result of the Battles of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and the Ministry Gates, even though the Battle of the Ministry Gates was entirely conducted by Voldemort. Then came the huge list of black magic accusations which were not even crimes except on technicality; the so called black magic had to be used in perpetration of a separate offense.

"Does the advocate for the accused take exception?" Fudge asked, causing everyone in the court room to focus again after being bored by the tedium of the list of charges.

"Yes, the advocate takes exception," Grimshaw said hurriedly. "Unconditioned exception as to the charge of murder since at common law it is impossible to sustain such a charge during wartime. It has long been recognized that due to the nature of magic and prophecies it may become necessary for a wizard to defend himself personally with no recourse to enlist the protection of the law."

"Get to the point," Fudge said irritably. "This tribunal has no need for the advocate to take us on a tour of our own law."

"Begging the Chief Warlock's permission," Grimshaw replied ceremonially. "But, regarding the prophecy of the Dark Lord and Harry Potter, Mr. Potter acted in self defense under one of the Inescapable Rules of Magic and as such is immune from prosecution."

"Overruled," Fudge roared, cutting Grimshaw off. "Does the advocate possess this prophecy?"

"It was lost," Grimshaw started to explain, but was overpowered by Fudge once again.

"Even assuming it existed as purported, it was a prophecy of mutual aggression and as such the Inescapable Rules do not apply," Fudge said. "Furthermore, the state has witnesses who will testify that several of the counts in question took place after the war had ended."

Grimshaw flinched slightly, his eyes darting to where Harry and Hermione were sitting in a confused state. They knew that they had killed no Death Eaters after Voldemort died, there had been no need. Voldemort's minions had fled or dispersed and with them no longer doing anything to identify themselves there were relatively few known offenders left. Some of the worst ones, like Malfoy, had been openly embraced by the Ministry so for good or for ill they had been left untouched.

"Advocate for the defense also takes exception to the charges of wanton destruction under the Rule of Mutual and Consented Combat," Grimshaw said.

"_Is any of this making any sense?_" Harry asked Hermione as Fudge started brow beating their little goblin defender again.

"_Not really, I don't remember reading anything about this sort of law,_" Hermione replied. "_Grimshaw seems to be trying to raise some kind of old pureblood rules regarding mutual combat though._"

There was a commotion off to the side of the chambers as a young assistant elbowed his way through the aurors standing on guard. Fudge turned around with a foul expression on his face at being interrupted, but his expression changed noticeably when he read the scroll that the assistant brought him.

"There will be a five minute recess," Fudge said. "Due to time constraints the Wizengamot will only consider the principle change and those complementary charges that carry the death sentence. State's abbreviated presentation will begin immediately following recess pursuant to the Rules of Siege."

Grimshaw opened his mouth to protest yet again, but was unable to speak in the face of Fudge's banging gavel. Harry and Hermione looked at him expectantly as he trotted back over to where they were sitting restrained.

"I'm afraid that this is hopelessly bad Mr. Potter," Grimshaw said bluntly. "The Rules of Siege weren't even employed during the last war with the Dark Lord. They presume that the accused are in imminent danger of being rescued from Ministry detention and that the crimes the subjects are charged with are of self-evident nature."

"Imminent danger of being rescued, eh?" Harry replied with a smirk.

"It is no cause for celebration," Grimshaw said stiffly. "Here in the bowels of the Ministry under the guard of the esteemed Viscount Artemis there is little chance for rescue, even if you think one might be coming. Furthermore, your sentence will be carried out immediately, in this very courtroom. The Rules of Siege were most often used in the past on the battlefield and were often little more than an excuse for summary executions of war prisoners."

"Our friends will find a way," Harry replied, not giving voice to the slight apprehension that he was starting to feel at that news.

"Our guard may not be as formidable as it seems either," Hermione said. She had been watching as Fudge had approached the Artemis siblings and apparently ordered them away since they immediately rushed out of the room upon seeing the scroll that had been brought in earlier.

"Mr. Potter, the goblins watched the war against the Dark Lord with great interest," Grimshaw said. "Not since the Order of the Phoenix did an organization rely on a handful of individuals so much to be the edge of the sword as did your Light Bearers."

"You underestimate our friends," Harry replied stubbornly. "They are coming."

"Yes, perhaps, but will they arrive by the end of the day," Grimshaw asked. It was clear that he did not favor their chances at all.

"_What if he's right?_" Harry said as the tribunal prepared to come back to order. "_Ron disbanded everyone except for a few of our close friends and some of the professors._"

"_Knowing Ron he might try something even without a good plan,_" Hermione agreed worriedly. "_Still, McGonagall should be involved. If it's her then she'll probably keep Ron from doing anything reckless, even if it means abandoning us._"

"First witness, Auror Deeds Wurther," Fudge declared. There was a pause as Wurther took his seat before the court. "Auror Wurther, describe for us if you would your findings in the investigation of the massacre at Mondray's Marsh."

"When we arrived at the scene it was obvious that there had been a sizeable battle," Wurther said. "We found four bodies, two known Death Eaters, including one of the Dark Lord's outer circle, Seth Russel, and one known Light Bearer."

"A known Light Bearer you say?" Fudge asked.

"Indeed, and there was one of the so called Light Marks on the scene as well," Wurther added.

"Let the record show that the Light Mark is the secret insignia spell of the accused," Fudge said. "Now, Mr. Wurther, other than the trademark spell of the accused, what other evidence ties the Potters to the scene of the crime?"

"Our investigators also recovered a small vial containing the residue of a most unusual potion," Wurther continued. "The potion was apparently a variant of a magic enhancing potion developed first by Vance Vitter. Evidence and testimony already submitted as part of the investigation report indicates that this potion was later modified by the Potions Master Severus Snape for use by the accused."

"Recount for the court, Auror Wurther, why the accused would need such a potion," Fudge said. "Surely mages of such renown wouldn't need a crutch like this."

"The record before the tribunal also contains the report of the mediwitch who examined the Potters shortly after their apprehension," Wuther said. "That examination revealed that Mr. Potter is suffering from several severe maladies, including dementor consumption affecting nearly twenty percent of his body. He also shows severe strain from over exertion of magic indicative of trying to channel too much energy. The mediwitch speculates that his abuse of the potion in question would result in such an illness. Mrs. Potter displays similar symptoms in respects to the potion and is also afflicted with numerous persisting curses, including a latent curse that causes the subject to bleed profusely and the beginnings of an evisceration curse."

"In other words," Fudge interrupted. "It is sufficient to say that the Potters have resorted to magical manipulation of their own bodies in order to maintain and enhance their abilities."

"Yes sir, I would say that is an accurate characterization," Wurther replied.

"As we all know," Fudge said, "It is common for those who practice the dark forbidden arts to engage in such manipulations. The recently vanquished Dark Lord was twisted beyond recognition as human; fortunately we appear to have caught his would be successors before they achieved that level of mastery."

"I take exception," Grimshaw squeaked. "The tribunal is speculating as to motive in a manner of extreme prejudice."

"Your exception is noted, but this tribunal is entitled to its own speculation," Fudge replied. "Especially when that speculation is based on such compelling facts…"

"Will that be all?" Wurther asked.

"Yes, you are relieved," Fudge said dismissively. "The next witness will be Specialist Timothy Palsgraf."

"_Hit wizard,_" Hermione said darkly as Palsgraf approached the tribunal to speak.

"_I'm sure we'll be right villainous according to him,_" Harry said. If anything, the hit wizards were even more malicious than the auror corps when it came to Harry and Hermione. Except for a few aurors that they had personally angered, like Morris, most of their torture had been overseen by the hit wizards.

"Specialist Palsgraf," Fudge said. "Recount for the tribunal the current state of affairs with the Americans."

"Chief Warlock," Paslgraf replied respectfully, "Things currently stand in a spiral of increasing escalations that threatens to break out in open hostility at any time."

A ripple of concern rolled through the audience at this unexpected bit of information. Grimshaw looked at Harry and Hermione again, this time his expression was just as puzzled as theirs as to the relevance of such a line of questioning.

"Only a short time ago one of our patrols was ambushed by an earth dragon over our territorial waters in the Atlantic," Palsgraf continued. "Auror Shacklebolt was struck down in the ensuing battle, but he managed to survive, barely."

"Has Auror Shacklebolt been able to provide any insights into the identity of his attacker?" Fudge asked.

"Yes sir, the attacker was a young witch, short, bushy hair, and possessing unusual power," Palsgraf replied. "Her specialty was in elemental fire spells."

"And how many witches could possibly match that description?" Fudge prodded.

"There is currently only one known witch matching that description in England," Palsgraf said promptly. "Hermione Potter."

"I except," Grimshaw protested.

"Does the advocate for the accused have any evidence to offer that would establish with certainty the location of the accused at the time of the attack?" Fudge asked snidely.

"I withdraw exception," Grimshaw said. He cast a baleful look over his shoulder at Harry and Hermione who, though outwardly placid, were beginning to get rather angry.

"Let us turn to the matter of motive," Fudge said.

"According to Ministry intelligence there was a contingent of American wizards who participated in the Battle of Hogwarts," Palsgraf said. "The Americans have also been participating in a rather pronounced build up of dragon riders and have for the first time in their history provided for a centralized wizard corp. made up of some of their most talented figures. As everyone knows, the Americans have made two separate attempts to seize English territorial lands in North America."

"Indeed, so what would the Americans have to gain by teaming up with Potter," Fudge asked.

"Sir, the question is more like, what would Potter have to gain by teaming up with the Americans," Palsgraf replied. "We believe that Potter intends to instigate a civil war and give them territory in exchange for military support."

Indignant outrage erupted, the purebloods that already were against Harry and Hermione now broke into jeers and booing. Fudge lazily banged his gavel after a moment, but he was more than content to let such a spectacle play out.

"Accused Hermione Potter in specific has a long history of association with giants, werewolves, and a possible militant 'Elf Rights' group that she herself founded," Palsgraf added.

Fudge questioned Palsgraf slightly about the nature of the 'Elf Rights' group, but when the nature of S.P.E.W. came to light as a teen reactionary organization designed to raise awareness he decided that enough testimony had been heard. Grimshaw approached them after making several more motions designed to stall for time with a defeated look on his face.

"I've done all that I can do," he said ruefully. "After my closing statement Fudge will call for a vote and then you'll be executed."

"That could be our opportunity," Harry said softly. "When we're being moved…"

"You won't be moved," Grimshaw said sharply. "Fudge will have you put against a wall and incinerated down to fine ash in this very room."

"Unbelievable," Hermione sputtered. "Fudge had better hope I'm incinerated, if we get out of this…"

Her threat was left unfinished as the gavel banged again and Grimshaw was called to give his final statement. The noise level in the courtroom had gradually risen to a low buzz as some sought to deny the little goblin the right to speak on behalf of the accused any further.

"Chief Warlock, honorable witches and wizards," Grimshaw said determinedly. "The tale you have all heard today, and make no mistake it is a tale indeed, is the most malicious defamation that I have ever heard. I should have very much liked an opportunity to present evidence, but since that is not possible I ask that this tribunal not place supposition and speculation in the place of what it should instinctively know is the truth. The accused sitting here before this tribunal should not be in bonds, but instead should be receiving our nation's highest award for their heroic and patriotic liberation of all wizarding England from the deadly clutches of the Dark Lord. We all know the story of how Harry Potter was robbed of his childhood as a result of his affliction with a terrible prophecy."

"The validity of that prophecy is in question, I would remind you," Fudge interrupted.

"Regardless of the prophecy's validity," Grimshaw said cattily, "The Dark Lord believed in it enough to attack a baby and in so doing set about the chain of events which caused Mr. Potter to destroy him. In any event, I have had a position unique to judge the conduct of Mr. Potter during the last two years as the overseer of his estate with Gringotts. Many of you know of the immense Potter fortune from the olden days. That fortune would have seen Mr. Potter and his family for several more generations on the principle alone. Where is that vast wealth now? Gone, gone to fight the Dark Lord and the massed wealth of those other ancient pureblood families who followed his desires."

The audience roared with disapproval at Grimshaw's indictment of the other purebloods as followers of Voldemort. The gavel cracked a half dozen times after Fudge tired of waiting out their ire.

"This very tribunal, in an attempt to discredit the magic prowess of the accused for reasons I can only presume were less than motivated by the interests of justice, revealed not a disability, but a badge of honor. In addition to Mr. Potter's wealth, he has sacrificed his health and the health of his beloved wife. How many of us are likewise scarred from fighting the forces of the Dark Lord?" Grimshaw asked. "Acquittal and apology is the least that this tribunal can do in thanks for their efforts."

"The principle charge being treason, all supplemental charges being discharged with an affirmative conviction of the principle charge, the penalty being immediate execution," Fudge said briskly. "All those in favor…"

Excepting for Madam Bones and two other elderly members of the Wizengamot all hands rose. Fudge couldn't contain his triumphant smile.

"The accused are found guilty of High Treason against the English nation and the Ministry of Magic," Fudge said. "Present the traitor's wands."

Harry and Hermione watched with horror, still stunned from the swift conclusion of the flimsy trial, as Fudge was presented with two long thin pieces of wood that they recognized as their wands. First Hermione's, then Harry's wand was snapped and thrown at their feet. Harry could see the core of his wand, which was one of only two cores supplied by Fawkes, lying broken and decaying as the enchantments bound up in it faded away.

"Specialist Derdiarian," Fudge said. "Proceed with the execution immediately."

"Yes sir," the head hit wizard replied.

"Ronald, we can't wait any longer," Molly said anxiously.

"Mum, we've got no choice," Ron replied, exasperated. "We don't have a bloody chance at this unless McGonagall and Remus were successful. Look, I don't know that much about these Artemis people except what everyone else has told me. McGonagall thought it was this important, I'm not going until we get word back."

Molly sent him a scathing look and Ron wished again for what felt like the hundredth time that he could devise some way to persuade her to stay home like she usually did. However, she adamantly refused to sit out the rescue, probably because she wanted to be there for Ron and Bill as much as she wanted to rescue Harry. There was a sharp crack of an incoming apparition and Ron was saved another miniature row over the matter.

"It worked, they came, but they weren't able to escape," Tonks said. Ron noticed that her eyes were slightly red. "Even worse, they already know that Remus was impersonating Dumbledore."

McGonagall had supplied the werewolf with polyjuice potion made from a lock of the former Headmaster's hair that he had given her back when he still was the keeper of the school. McGonagall would then be able to impersonate Dumbledore should the need arise. They had been lucky though that Dumbledore's weakness was not so well known nor so conclusive as to tip off the Ministry that he was being impersonated when his likeness appeared and started performing magic.

"Everyone put your scarves into place," Ron instructed, referring to the magically fortified wraps that supplemented their Light Bearer cloaks to prevent anyone from seeing their identity, even with a vision enhancing eyepiece.

"Don't we need Remus and Minerva?" Tonks asked. Ron could tell that she was worried for their safety and with good cause. "They might kill them outright."

"Tonks, the whole point of them acting as decoys was to get those two away, we can't face that caliber of wizard without Harry and Hermione," Ron replied. Tonks nodded unhappily and pushed up the hood on her cloak. "Everyone will refer to each other by number if necessary, but don't speak at all if possible to minimize chances of someone breaking the secret. My code name is still Gleamtooth."

"Mine is Argentum," Luna said, interrupting Ron as she slid next to him with her gold lined cloak already in place. "But I guess you can all just call me Silver."

"Everyone activate their armor and get in place," Ron said. "We're going to take everyone back starting now!"

Ron reached out through the golden emblem that linked the remaining Light Bearers together and synchronized their apparation. Coming out of the unpleasant feeling of an apparation was bad enough, but it was even worse when accompanied by the panicked yells of aurors. The ring of nearly twenty witches and wizards erupted in spell fire targeted at every crimson robe within sight. Though the defenders managed to get off a few spells in response they had become sufficiently complacent in their defense that they were still almost completely blindsided.

The ring of attackers surged forward toward their target, a courtroom that they knew was situated down in the bowels of the reconstructed Ministry thanks to what limited intelligence they had on the structure. The last thing they heard as they exited the internal plaza where the apparation point was situated was the yells for help and the direction that the "torches" had went.

"Get in formation and keep watch for any resistance," Ron said as they swept down the hall at a brisk pace. They didn't dare run for fear of wearing themselves out too much to fight, especially since some of their group was rather elderly and thus had to rely on magic to help them keep up. They instead formed a column of two so that they wouldn't all be affected by a single spell or trap.

Luna put one hand out in front of Ron and held her wand aloft suddenly, causing the group to halt. She quickly dug into her robes and pulled out a small square cube, which she tossed onto the floor. The cube immediately began to grow and morph until it turned into a black obsidian colored hound with glowing red eyes.

"Scout," Luna commanded. The dog whined very realistically and bounded off. Each time it came to an adjoining hallway where an ambush might await it would inspect. The column resumed its progress.

"The stairs should be at the end of this hallway," Ron said. They didn't dare use the elevators since those devices were in fact heavily modified with magic to the point that they would be a death trap should the defenders realize that they were there.

"We can't expect to keep this up for long," Tonks said. A flash of green light lanced out to blow away the hound's leg as if to verify Tonks' statement.

"We don't have time for this," Ron said, frustration apparent in his voice as their advance was ground to a halt by a mere handful of defenders attacking them from behind small cubby holes that had been dug into the wall for just such an occasion. The Light Bearers had erected a makeshift barrier between themselves and their attackers by overlapping their armor, but such a defense wasn't absolute.

"We've just got to go down, right?" Luna asked, her voice still maintaining its detached misty quality.

"You three," Ron said with a gesture, "I want a hole in this floor."

Spells began to thud into the heavy floor without missing a beat and for a second Ron felt pride at the amazing teamwork that the force he had helped shape displayed even in a situation such as this.

"Hurry, get to the stairwell and make sure we're not blocked off this time," Ron instructed. Bill, Tonks, and two more of their strongest fighters leapt through and raced off.

"Let's go Silver," Ron said. He turned to the four wizards who were still deflecting spells with their shields and returning fire. "You guys follow behind and repair this damage so that they can't follow us so easily."

"The stairway is clear," Tonks shouted as soon as Ron's feet touched the next floor. "We've caught them off guard, but it won't last for long."

"Lay down creepers," Ron responded as he and Luna ran toward the doorway.

Hands reached into robes again and more small cubes of obsidian stone were thrown, this time on the walls and stairway where they stuck before undergoing their transformation. The stone creatures that appeared were much less artistic than the previous ones. These bits of animated stone looked like sea urchins with particularly long spikes as legs. Soon the portions of the stairway above the Light Bearer's position was choked full of the bizarre stone animations. Anyone coming after them would be in for a fatal surprise. The creepers were difficult to destroy and attacked quickly with their spikes to impale any assailant.

"We've got to move quicker," Luna said even though they were running so fast that they were nearly falling down the stairs with haste. "The aurors may have a secret way to move rapidly without apparating in here."

Ron gave her a startled glance, but he had seen her slip into serious moods a few times in the past. In any event, he didn't have time to contemplate Luna's many emotional states because they had already arrived at the floor with the courtroom that their informant had told them the trial was taking place in.

The Light Bearers resumed their previous formation and advanced slowly down the dimly lit floor of the Ministry. Their eyepieces could see individuals milling about down the hallway who hadn't noticed their approach yet, but they didn't appear to be aurors. Boot heels clicked solemnly on the marble floors as they walked in lock step, wands drawn in one hand, the other coated with the iconic armor of their order. The sound of so many footsteps caused the hangers on to look up reflexively. The sight of all the robes with torch symbols displayed prominently turned those looks to terror.

"Ga-ga-golden robes," someone in the thin crowd stammered. Ron was amazed at how the assembled individuals melted away to clear the path for their advance, some even tripping in their haste to get away. The sight of his and Luna's golden torches seemed especially terrifying.

"_They've forgotten that we're not Harry and Hermione_," Ron thought to himself. "_Is this the fearsome presence everyone perceives from the ones who defeated Him?_"

"You people, if you value your lives, leave this place," Tonks said gruffly. Considering that they were probably sympathetic to their enemy, what with being ministry personnel or pure bloods, Tonks was tempted to just start attacking them. Still, if they began to indiscriminately fight everyone they encountered without cause it would diminish their chances of successfully rescuing Harry and Hermione.

"Use the rest of our reinforcements," Luna commanded once the entire assault team reached the big double doors that led to the room where Harry and Hermione's trial was taking place.

"But Silver," a wizard with the number three on his robes protested. "We're already running low on golems."

"It's okay," Luna replied, her voice slipping into the misty distant tone she normally used. "We're going to get back the witch who made them so they can always be replaced."

"Ah, that's not what I meant," the wizard replied, but Luna just gestured at him to go ahead. The remaining dice sized cubes clattered onto the floor, writhing and growing as their spells were released. In their place stood larger than life stone soldiers with the appearance of legionnaires from the muggle empire of Rome. Each obsidian warrior carried the iconic square shield that often typified that era.

Four of the warriors paused, two on each side of the trial room entrance as their controller waited for Ron and Luna to spearhead the attack by breaking the doors in. Two wands raised with smooth synchronization and loosed powerful spells that took on the form of flashing light. The heavy wooden doors didn't merely shatter inward, but instead nearly disintegrated. The force of the spell created such displacement of air and excess energy that it looked as if a giant fist had raked down the middle of the exposed chamber.

The four obsidian warriors rushed into the space, their shields locked together to form a wall of spell resistant stone. Ron and Luna immediately began pelting curses on the surprised figures in red robes that were standing guard in the room. Behind them Tonks and Bill leapt into the room with shouts of "_accio_."

The instant the attack had commenced Fudge had shouted hastily for the aurors to execute Harry and Hermione, who were in the process of being led to the front of a row of masked wizards for execution. Flashes of green light lanced out, but the power of the rescuers' summoning charms whisked them out of the way. Ron grimaced as he saw Harry glance off of a hastily vacated bench as one of the aurors tried to wrench his body out of Bill's summoning charm with another charm of his own. A second later Harry and Hermione landed heavily in the small area where every wand in the room had suddenly turned upon.

"Get those things off of them," Tonks snarled as she deflected a hex off of her shield. "Those restraints are designed to kill them if the spells detect an escape attempt."

"We've got to get them awake too," Ron said as the restraints fell away. He felt a wince of sympathy pain at the state his two best friends were in. They were unconscious and their torn open robes gave a glimpse of the tattered state their bodies were in. "They've got to be able to apparate by the time we get them back up to the hole in the wards."

"You four," Luna said, gesturing authoritatively, "Begin the retreat, the rest of us will cover you."

Two of the singled out wizards caught Harry and Hermione up in levitation charms before rushing back out into the hall towards the stairway. The other two ran alongside with wands drawn and shields positioned between their unconscious wards and the myriad of spells that were still incoming.

Ron flinched as one of the stone soldiers crumbled apart unexpectedly as a result of a hail of killing curses. With a swish of his wand the broken pieces rose back into the air and then accelerated sharply toward the rushing audience members who had finally composed themselves enough to take action. He noted with satisfaction that the would-be assailants ducked back behind cover, several of them bloodied by the unexpected attack.

Ron worked in conjunction with Luna to conjure or pry from their surroundings large chunks of wood, stone, and other solid objects that could be used to block spells as they backed slowly out of the room. The last thing they saw as they walked backwards out of the room was Fudge, three aurors standing shoulder to shoulder in front of him, as he screamed for someone to stop the "rebels."

"I think its time to run," Luna remarked calmly once they were back in the hall. A half dozen red cloaked aurors were rushing towards them, wands drawn and glowing with unfinished spells.

"Acceleration charm," Ron yelled. Immediately the remaining witches and wizards who hadn't made the stairway blurred away, but Ron knew that the maneuver would only by them a few seconds before their pursuers copied them. He also noticed with a mix of pride and annoyance that Luna's spell had been somewhat stronger than his own was since she arrived at their destination faster.

Six blood red cloaks billowed out behind the onrushing aurors who had formed the point of the Ministry's attempt to restore order to its headquarters. Ron started to run up the stairs after his followers, but Luna had halted to do something. He caught a flash of something reflective being pulled from Luna's cloak and then the sound of breaking glass. A huge cloud of noxious fumes erupted from the smashed vials that she had thrown on the floor. The aurors were caught up in the highly corrosive and poisonous vapors.

"Hurry," Luna said shortly as she turned to join the other fleeing figures. Ron took up the rear, trying to focus on the mission instead of the image of the aurors melting skin and agonized wails as the toxins ate away at their flesh.

The flight of stairs had seemed long when they had been going down, but now, going up, they seemed infinitely longer. Aurors from the upper level of the Ministry had blown several holes into the stairwell, but were still being held off by the creepers and other various conjured guardians that they had left to slow down the initial pursuit.

"Gleamtooth," Tonks yelled over the sounds of shattering stone as she fell back to his position in the retreating line of Light Bearers. "We've almost completely lost control of the situation. Our exit is barred and it's only a matter of time before the aurors blocking us manage to break in here."

"Then we've got to break through first," Ron said. He gestured for Bill to join him. "Silver, you guard the rear, we'll take the vanguard from here on out."

"But, what are you going…" Tonks said, only to be cut off by Luna.

"Don't worry," Luna said, "Remember what family they're from."

When Ron and Bill made it to where the line had stopped moving it quickly became apparent what the problem was. All the fighting between the aurors and their swarm of conjured stone creatures had collapsed the final segment of stairway that they needed. Repair and reconstruction charms didn't seem to be working so the stairs must have been affected by a powerful curse, which made sense due to the tough nature of Hermione's golems.

"Don't get carried away," Ron cautioned Bill as they conjured up a makeshift set of spiraling stairs. "This place can't take much more damage."

"I'm the one that should be telling you that," Bill said, laughing softly. Behind them the rest of the Light Bearers were wondering just precisely what kind of leader they were following now. They knew of Ron's great organizational and strategic skills, but few had ever seen him in direct combat.

Ron and Bill flicked their wands in a complex series of spells performing functions that had long been a family secret. It soon became apparent that Ron hadn't been wasting his time as much as it appeared as magical energies swirled around him, filling out his cloak as if there were a strong wind in the room.

"Follow quickly," Ron said, and then he was gone. He and Bill launched straight up to the nearest opening where they could access the upper floors that they needed to travel through to escape. They hovered in mid air for a split second before stepping calmly into the midst of a shattered hallway filled with ruined golems and a half dozen magical law enforcement agents led by two aurors.

Bill had, on occasion, seen Harry and Hermione conjure up hailstorms consisting entirely of jagged shards of stone for situations such as this, but he knew that there was no way that they could pull off such a feat and hope to conserve enough strength to fight their way back to the main lobby. Fortunately, they had a trickier way to accomplish the same end. Ron gestured with his wand and several spots on the stone floor erupted like a muggle land mine going off.

The stone shards pelted their opponents for a moment, but since they were not conjured and protected by an aura of magic the enemy aurors quickly realized that they could easily use vanishing and transfiguration spells to end the attack. Bill raked the walls with more heating spells to keep the aurors busy defending while Ron attacked again. This time he did so by pulling off his cloak and infusing it with several modifications as he hurled it toward the Ministry henchmen.

Instead of flopping to the floor like a limp garment the cloak flattened out into a circular shape around the hole in its center where one's head usually stuck through. Another spell hardened the fabric, another sharpened its edges, and yet another caused it to rotate rapidly. Without a single conjure Ron had converted his cloak into a giant spinning blade that laid waste to everything in its path. Even without the immense, unnatural strength of a Dumbledore or a Potter the Weasley family style of combat had always been considered incredibly effective and for good reason.

Ron grimaced as he caught his cloak and released the spells in it as he put it back on. The symbolic golden torch was now stained with giant red smears where he had severed limbs that got caught in the path of his attack. Still, there was nothing for him to do but press on through the now empty corridor where his retreating forces had managed to catch up to him and his brother.

"Finally, we're almost there," Bill said as they reached the floor that the lobby was situated on. They had gotten lucky ever since they had gotten away from the stairwell where there conjured creatures had drawn many aurors into its distracting grasp. Confusion had served as a powerful force diminishing effect for the Ministry.

"That's good," Luna said as she pulled out a vial filled with some black substance. "This is our last trick."

She hurled the vial down the hallway that they had just emerged from, shattering it. Immediately the Devil's Snare seed grew with magical speed, its vines covered with the black substance so that the light wouldn't be able to harm it, and clogged up the hallway completely.

"Are they awake yet?" Ron asked. They were just outside the chamber where the hole in the anti-apparition wards opened up.

"Not really," Tonks said, "Harry seems a bit stronger than Hermione though."

"Then concentrate on waking him up," Ron ordered. "He'll be able to do something about her."

"Blasted restraints," Tonks muttered as she slapped Harry with increasing force. "Their spells make the body refuse all kinds of magical reanimation and rejuvenation for quite a while."

"No more time," Ron said. "I want a ring of shields in the middle of the departure point."

Ministry personnel had begun to close in on them as they rushed the prone forms of Harry and Hermione into the center of the lobby all the while attempting to protect them with the shields built into the Light Bearer armor.

"Harry, mate, you gotta wake up," Ron said, turning his attention away from the battle. Harry stirred slightly, his mouth moving wordlessly. "If you don't, Hermione's going to die. She'll die right here Harry."

"No," Harry said painfully, his eyes opening just a crack.

"Wake her up," Ron said encouragingly. "Wake her up and make her apparate to Grimmauld Place. We can't portkey and we won't be able to apparate for much longer either, they're gonna hex us."

"_Hermione,_" Harry's voice echoed through her head. All around them spells were gouging huge smoking holes out of armor and stone whenever they impacted. Ron and Luna were the center of a maelstrom as they exhausted themselves trying to buy as much time as possible. Already several Light Bearers had apparated away out of self preservation as they were injured and worn down to the point where they were no longer beneficial to the defense. "_Go to Grimmauld Place, you've got to go right now._"

Ron shouted in triumph as he saw his two friends disappear and heard the thunderous crack of a feeble apparition. His final order of the mission, the order to apparate to safety, sounded out and with that they were gone.


	8. Chapter 8 – The Bedraggled Dog

Chapter 8 – The Bedraggled Dog

"How are they?" an anxious Sarah Granger asked as Ron came into the main living room of Grimmauld Place. She had been barred from the operating room along with Erwin because no one really wanted them to see the extent of the injuries that her daughter and son-in-law had suffered. They were unconscious again anyway, the strain of apparating in their condition nearly killing them, and Poppy, who had escaped Fudge's rounding up of the Hogwarts' staff, needed quiet to restore them to the best of her ability.

"Well, it's hard to say," Ron said evasively.

"Please Ronald, we want to know everything," Erwin said. Luna had come in and taken a seat next to Ron, her features placid, but Ron knew she was disturbed as well.

"Hermione seems to have suffered the most," Ron said finally. "She's been cursed pretty badly. There are open wounds reappearing all over her body and her right arm is nothing more than a skeleton. They also seem to have been beaten and tortured physically too. Those wounds won't accept healing charms either, so somehow they managed to curse them after they were inflicted apparently."

"Why, why would these Ministry people do something like this?" Sarah asked tearfully. Hermione had always thought rather ill of the Ministry, but Sarah had never believed that they would drag her little girl off one early morning and torture her.

"There could be several reasons," Ron said, which was truthful.

"The real question is; what are we going to do next?" Erwin said.

Three or four years ago Ron would have been delighted to have someone looking to him for direction and decision making. Now, he just felt a great gnawing doubt. The Ministry needed to be stopped, but it was the _Ministry_ not just some gang of bloody dark wizards.

"That'll be up to Harry and Hermione," Ron said simply.

Poppy clucked nervously as she cast another reconstitution spell on Hermione only to see it fizzle out. She had finally managed to stop their worst wounds from killing them, but had been unable to actually heal them. Of course, had she not been away from Hogwarts when the Ministry came for McGonagall and the rest of the staff they probably would be dead right now.

"They have to get better," Tonks said. "You've got to heal them faster Poppy. We don't have anymore time left and they're the only one's who can save everyone. We need their strength."

"They're not weapons Nymphadora," Poppy replied with an annoyed tone. Dobby and Winky were both sitting in a state of shock at seeing their beloved masters in such a condition.

"I didn't mean…" Tonks started to explain when she was cut off by a sudden movement. Hermione's intact hand reached out and gently grasped Poppy's arm.

"It's okay," Hermione said weakly. She smiled slightly and tried to look reassuring since she had been awake long enough to hear much of the story about Remus' plight. "Please don't worry about anything, just leave everything to us. We'll get everyone back."

"Dear, don't exert yourself," Poppy said reprovingly. "You're in no condition to do anything and I can't even begin to heal such extensive curse damage."

"We'll be fine," Harry said as he sat up gingerly. "We haven't just been sitting around these last few weeks."

"We can heal ourselves," Hermione finished for Harry. "We need wands."

"I've had some spares brought up," Tonks said.

"Ah, we can manage with these for the short term," Hermione said as she grasped the thin piece of wood. Her skeletal arm moved, its hand flexing in a motion that could only be described as creepy. "I'll be glad to get some flesh back on these bones."

Poppy looked flabbergasted at such a delusional notion, but before she could say anything Bill rushed into the room. He was wearing a crimson colored eyepiece and had his wand drawn.

"We've got a big problem," he said quickly. "The Ministry just found us."

"What, how is that even possible?" Tonks asked, startled.

"They're probably scrying with our old wand fragments," Hermione said. "But they must not have pinpointed us yet or else they'd already be in here."

"The Fidelius Charm is no longer protecting this place," Harry said.

"Right, we need to get everyone to Riddle Manor," Hermione said. "We've got a Fidelius Charm in place there so hopefully they won't be able to scry."

"Isn't that too risky," Ron asked as he and Luna entered the room. "We've got to do something about those wand fragments before you two move."

"Let us do this for you," Luna said in her typical wistful voice.

"All right," Hermione said after only a slight hesitation. "Harry and I will summon portkeys for everyone."

"We can't leave until you and Harry can safely escape," Tonks exclaimed. "How would you defend yourselves if they broke in before Ron and Luna can take the wand fragments?"

"I don't think that will matter much," Bill said. "I can see that a lot of aurors have arrived, but even worse, those continentals are out there. The Artemis siblings are probably out there too."

"Then it's impossible," Tonks said despairingly. "How are we supposed to do anything with people like that out there?"

"Just leave it to me and Luna," Ron said, grinning. "We've still got at least one good trick left."

"Okay, that's everyone," Harry said as he handed the last two portkeys to Ron and Luna. The structure shuddered again as another Killing Curse impacted near where the mansion was magically concealed. The Ministry officials knew they were close and were hoping to slice up the concealing spell. "We'll wait here until we can confirm that the two of you have left with the fragments."

They had hurriedly evacuated everything that they could lay hands on, along with all the remaining people at Grimmauld Place, to their new base at Riddle Manor. Dobby and Winky were to take care of their guests until the Potters arrived.

"Try again," Septimus Artemis said crossly. The two scrying wizards had failed to do much more than narrow their target down and so far a sustained bombardment of curses hadn't revealed their prize. His senses flared suddenly, an instant before he noticed a lazy red spiral of magic coming directly for their rooftop position from some place across the street. The corner of the building was sheered off from the waves of concentrated cutting spells.

"You two remain here, I will see to this," Septimus said, leaping off of the building with reckless disregard for whatever ambush might be awaiting him. He had barely left when the top of the building exploded in a dense dust storm.

"What in Merlin's name?" the first wizard said timidly as a long wolf howl sounded off right next to him.

"A werewolf," the other wizard yelled, terrified. "Don't let it bite you or it's all over."

The two scrambled away, not realizing that while the wolf was large it wasn't large enough, let alone the right shape, to be a werewolf. A small silver fox appeared out of the dust as well and latched onto the forgotten fragments of shattered wands with its sharp nimble teeth.

Down below Septimus uttered a scathing oath and reversed his momentum with a well placed spell. No one tricked the Viscount Artimus and lived to tell about it. As his feet touched down on the rooftop the force of his landing caused a fierce blast of magical wind to sweep the scene clear.

"You miserable fools," he shouted at the two cowering wizards.

Harry and Hermione, watching the entire incident with their eyepieces, grinned in triumph as they activated their portkeys. Whatever fate the scry masters had in store for them; they really didn't want to watch.

"Harry Potter sir, thank goodness," Dobby babbled the instant Harry and Hermione appeared in the designated portkey entry room at Riddle Manor.

Ron and Luna refrained from offering to help their two friends as they tottered into the main room where everyone else was waiting for them. They knew from the way they were clutching their wands that they were using magic just to make their bodies move normally, especially Hermione.

"Oh my gosh, Hermione," Sarah wailed as she saw her daughter clearly for the first time since the entire ordeal had begun. Murmurs of concern broke out all around the room as everyone could plainly see Hermione's skeletal arm and Harry withered arm, not to mention numerous other barely contained wounds.

"Mum, please, don't be sad," Hermione said. "It's okay, really."

"But your arm, first Harry and now you too," she said, voice cracking painfully. Molly looked devastated too, but she stayed back out of respect for Hermione's real mother.

"It would appear that my services are acutely needed after all," Cramshak's voice said as he emerged from the sitting room where Dobby had relegated him while they were awaiting the Potter's arrival.

"Cramshak, you finished without any problems then?" Harry asked as he sat down heavily next to Hermione. The little goblin carried the special box that they had given him over to them and opened it. Inside, hanging suspended by the box's enchantments, were two perfect orbs of red stone.

"The Philosopher's Stone," Bill said with a disbelieving tone.

"That and more," Hermione said. Harry and Hermione gingerly reached in to take up their stone. Each of them were attached to a thin golden chain and were held in place to it by four long delicate looking gold tendrils that together formed a sort of spherical cage.

Everyone watched in silent awe as they put the stone's to their lips and began to suck on them. It took a minute for the gather audience to realize that they were drinking from the stones directly. Their wounds began to fade away, Harry's arm began to take on a natural healthy color, but Hermione's arm remained unchanged.

From the depths of Riddle Manor dozens of piercing screams suddenly rent the air followed an instant later by the sound of things shattering and a slight rocking of the building's foundation.

"Something's coming," Luna said softly.

"What could it be?" Bill asked.

"The animals," Hermione said. "There were strange magical creatures that Voldemort was experimenting on down in the basement. We were going to study them."

"You mean you don't even know what they are?" Molly asked, horrified. "He was making new creatures?"

"Probably just altering existing creatures," Harry said. An inhuman low pitched noise came from just outside the room. It was smooth, not rumbling at all, but had a quality that seemed to make a person's bones vibrate.

"They're all around us," Tonks said. Sure enough, the sound of the creatures was even coming through the walls now. All eyes turned to the open door as the wall next to it was slashed with three deep gouges.

"I can't see it even with the eyepiece," Ron said.

"Harry, are you well enough?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, you just stay there and keep healing," Harry replied. The Sorcerer's Stone glowed brightly as Harry began to channel immense amounts of power. Everyone stepped back involuntarily from the frightening presence that Harry exuded thanks to the influence of the stone. The beasts that had been lurking just out of range went into a wild frenzy, ripping into the walls and crashing into the room.

"They're appearing and disappearing," Bill shouted. Sure enough, the creatures they had seen before in the glass cages were phasing in and out of view. Sometimes they were fully in view, sometimes just half of their bodies, or even just a single part, was exposed.

Harry's fist closed around the stone and glowed bright red with immolating fire for an instant before he fired a coherent bar of white hot liquid flame at the nearest creature. The fire washed over it and a second later Harry extinguished it so as to not destroy the building.

"He isn't using a wand," Ron said, disbelieving. However, even more unreal than the amount of energy that Harry was throwing around with just the stone was the fact that the creatures seemed to be utterly immune to his efforts.

"It had no effect," Harry said. The room whipped with wind as he began to hurl violent attacks as rapidly as possible. Each time the magic either passed harmlessly through the creatures or else fizzled out on impact.

"They're targeting Harry," Molly yelled over the noise of the battle. Ron suddenly realized that the creatures were indeed passing by everyone else and focusing solely on Harry. There was a flash and suddenly Hermione joined the battle, though it seemed that the force of her spells were somewhat weaker. As soon as she began casting spells though, the creatures began to put some attention on her too.

"It's the stones, they're attracted to the use of the stones," Ron yelled. He fired off a spell and was shocked to see on of the creatures draw back flinching.

"Harry, Hermione, stop fighting," Tonks yelled, catching on. Together, everyone rushed in to form a circle around the beleaguered couple who had listened to Tonks' command and stopped fighting in surprise.

The creatures drew back and started to retreat just as a dozen dementors flooded into the room to give chase to them. The presence of the dementors seemed to terrify the beasts and with a clattering howl they returned to their invisible state, fleeing from the premises.

"The plane walkersss have departed Master," the dementor that had stayed behind intoned eerily. "We will not allow them back on the groundssss."

"Plane walkers, what are they exactly?" Harry asked.

"It is our name for their talentsss," the dementor replied. "We can know no more."

"Bloody unhelpful," Harry muttered as the dementor glided away. He turned back to where Hermione was trying to finish healing herself. She had conjured a long narrow trough and filled it with the clear water like Elixir of Life that the stone could endlessly produce.

Everyone else dispersed out under Ron's orders to assess the damage that had occurred and to make sure that there were no more creatures hanging around. Harry trusted that the dementors would probably not dare lie to him, but nonetheless it was a good idea.

"Poppy," Hermione said as she laid her arm down in the liquid, "We will provide you with as much of this Elixir as you might need for medicine."

"Amazing," Poppy said. Thin strings of tendon and muscle were already attaching themselves to Hermione's arm. Before their very eyes her entire limb regenerated itself layer by layer.

"It feels good," Hermione said as she flexed her hand as the process finished. Her skin was as pale, soft, and white as a newborn infant's. "It feels strong, even better than before."

Sarah and Erwin were shocked, even after everything they'd seen from being around their daughter. Even the other wizards and witches present had never before witnessed such seemingly endless power.

"I know what you mean," Harry said. "I've never felt so healthy before in my life. So, who else wants some?"

He waved his hand and conjured several glasses which he filled one at a time with the Elixir that gushed from the stone.

"Is it okay?" Molly asked. "It won't, uh, change us or anything will it?"

"It won't do anything permanent," Hermione replied. "You should live a few days longer than you would have otherwise though."

"And if we drank this regularly?" Luna asked as she picked up a glass.

"You'd be immortal of course," Hermione said. "Assuming no one killed you, but even that would be more difficult. When you're under the influence of the Elixir the information we have indicates that your body becomes much less vulnerable to injury and heals with great rapidity."

"It is amazing," Ron said as he took a small sip. He felt like he had just woken up from a long refreshing slumber. He put his glass down hastily. "Is this stuff addictive?"

"Immorality is always addictive," Harry said simply whenever Hermione didn't answer. "As to the extent of the long term effects of the Elixir itself, Nicholas Flamel was able to give it up and didn't seem to suffer adversely."

"Don't worry," Hermione said, "We don't plan to mess around with the natural order lightly."

"More importantly shouldn't we be getting ready to free Remus and the others?" Tonks asked. "I mean, I'm glad that you're both okay now, but who knows what could be happening to them."

"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" Molly asked. "Even if we knew where they were, how are we supposed to fight the whole Ministry?"

"But we do know where they are," Tonks said earnestly. She pulled out a necklace that held a half moon ornament. The little gold figure seemed to magically tug itself in a consistent direction. "This is attracted to the other half, which Remus has, no matter where he goes. We had them in case we got separated by a transformation or something."

The necklace tugged off of Tonks' neck and flew across the room neatly into Harry's hand. He looked at it for a moment, as if he were looking past it and seeing something else.

"As for your second question, none of you are going to fight the Ministry," he said flatly.

"You need our help," Ron said. Tonks burst out with similar indignation at the same time.

"Do you want to become criminals too?" Hermione asked scathingly. "So far they only seem to want us and those who were closest to Dumbledore. We will take them back and go into hiding together and that will be the end of it. Besides, more people would just get in the way."

"Neither of you has any idea what's been going on," Molly replied loudly. "The Ministry is rounding up muggle born and werewolves. The purebloods are finally cracking down on everyone."

"It's true," Cramshak said, slightly startling everyone since he had been so quiet. "I have it from Grimshaw that Fudge has been confiscating private vaults, including yours Mr. Potter."

"_What should we do Harry?_" Hermione asked as everyone continued to discuss the situation.

"_I don't know, I mean, this isn't a problem with a rogue dark wizard. It isn't like we have a prophecy hanging over us this time,_" Harry replied.

"I don't care what anyone else does," Ron declared brashly. "The Light Bearers are going to revolt. I won't see all the work that Dad did to improve the treatment of muggles and magical creatures overturned by some bloody sodding tyrant like Fudge."

"Whoever overthrows the Ministry will be under too much suspicion to set up a new government," Harry said quietly. "The public would only see someone trying to make themselves into a king."

"I'm not going to sit back," Ron began, but Harry cut him off.

"We will do it!" Harry snapped. He continued with a gentler tone. "We will destroy the Ministry, but you and the Light Bearers have to be waiting to create a new government once Fudge is gone. You have to be as untainted as possible from our rebellion."

Ron was somewhat taken aback, but he realized why Harry was so conflicted. He was offering to heap all the disgrace, all the infamy onto himself and Hermione. He would do all the dirty work of revolting, the deeds that would make him even more hated and reviled, so that others could reap the benefits.

"Well," Tonks asked into the ensuing silence. "Are you going to get back Remus or not?"

"We will go and take back everyone," Hermione said. "But we will go tonight with the darkness as our ally."

"Don't worry Tonks, nothing will happen within the next few hours," Harry said. "If what you all say is true then the Ministry is rounding people up right now. It needs information on where other 'undesirables' are, it won't kill people like McGonagall or Remus."

"Besides, to tell the truth we're not fully healed yet," Hermione said quietly. She and Harry, along with a few others, had started walking slowly down the long hall toward the lower levels of Riddle Manor where the creatures had been kept. "The Elixir has basically given us a quick fix, but if we were to exert ourselves heavily right now, well, even it has limits and I'm not anxious to have my arm fall apart in the middle of a fight. By the time its dark the alchemy should have finished its work and dissolved the curses that would reassert our wounds."

"Goodness, a few hours, that arm was beyond all repair," Molly said.

"Even if you're fully healed, even if you don't want us to become criminals, I still think that I should go," Tonks said. "I'm a werewolf after all, and I can wear one of the identity concealing scarves. The two of you may need help against all those aurors and hit wizards."

"Don't underestimate the power of alchemic sorcery," Hermione said darkly. "Our magical abilities are now supreme in this world."

_That_ pronouncement shocked the entire group to such an extent that no one even noticed as they arrived in the "zoo" room, which was now filled with broken glass cages and otherwise torn apart.

"No they're not," Ron said softly. He gestured at the mayhem around them. "You were both helpless against those creatures."

"That was a special case, we'll be going against other wizards from now on," Hermione said. "Besides, we'll get new wands so that we can take care of those things Voldemort created too."

"So what if you're going against regular wizards?" Luna said. "The avatars were supposed to be the all powerful incarnations of His abilities and they still died when they were outnumbered. The Elixir doesn't make you invulnerable you know."

"Of course not," Hermione said.

"Dear, we're only trying to help," Molly said gently. "And I admit that no one really knows anything about this alchemic sorcery stuff except you and Harry, but just consider, you're not sorcerers, and you're still new at using those stones. Just be careful, okay?"

"We will be," Harry said reassuringly. "But Hermione's confidence in our new abilities is quite well placed."

"_I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that,_" Hermione's voice echoed through his head.

"_I know, and I know what you mean, this feeling of perfect health and boundless energy…_" Harry replied. If it hadn't been for the fear of Voldemort, who was already nearly invincible, getting his hands on such powerful objects they would have been a superb weapon to use against him.

"_Do you see anything that we missed in here?_" Hermione asked as they picked their way through the ruins of the lab.

"_No, but there are a lot of documents that we didn't get a chance to read,_" Harry replied. "_I suspect that somewhere in all these research logs and reference material there is some clue as to what those things were_."

"Shouldn't we repair this before someone gets cut?" Molly asked.

"No, we'd better not disturb anything," Hermione said, motioning for everyone to back out. "There are no more creatures here and that is what we wanted to make sure of. We'll leave everything else as it is for future investigation, but for now its time to prepare for tonight's rescue operations. Everyone here will need to be ready to receive wounded and to fight just in case this location is compromised to the Ministry somehow like Grimmauld Place was."

"I'll be glad to get out of this place then," Ron said, taking the lead back up to the more hospitable parts of Riddle Manor. "Bloody creepy is what it is down here."

"We should get back to Cramshak and my parents," Hermione said as the group reached the main floor again.

"I'm going to help Dobby and Winky with the cooking," Molly said, moving off in the direction of the kitchens. Ron, Luna, and Tonks drifted back off toward the living room, presumably to continue overseeing the coordination of the remaining Light Bearers as they settled into their new location.

"_Is your arm okay now?_" Hermione asked as they went towards one of the smaller studies that dotted the mansion. "_With all the focus on my arm, we haven't really paid attention to how contact with a dementor is repaired._"

"_It's as good as it ever was,_" Harry replied lightly, "_I'm just thankful that such extensive damage can be repaired. You know, several of the Americans who helped us in the battle at Hogwarts were maimed too. We should try to fix their injuries as soon as we can too._"

"_They'll be amazed at what we can do now, I know I am,_" Hermione said, holding her arm out in front of Harry as they continued walking. "_Even old scars are gone._"

Harry rubbed her arm softly, savoring the soft smooth feeling and the emotional closeness that was mirrored by their physical proximity.

"_Have all your old scars healed?_" Harry asked. Hermione giggled as his hand moved to her shoulders and upper back. "_Perhaps I need to give you a detailed inspection. To see how extensive the effects of the Elixir are, of course._"

"_Of course,_" Hermione said, the anxiety of the past few days melting away into the content feeling that they had been sharing prior to the Ministry's interference.

"I'm glad to see the two of you are well and safe again," Sarah Granger said, causing Hermione to jump slightly at the unexpected noise. They had entered the study where Cramshak and Hermione's parents had been waiting for them to finish inspecting the dungeon areas without noticing their presence. "I trust there's nothing else lurking around here."

"I should be returning to my shop if the stones are satisfactory," Cramshak said hesitantly, again reminding everyone of his presence. "Also, one last thing; I placed the left over shards in the bottom of the boxes."

"Thank you again," Harry said.

"If you ever need our help," Hermione added. "We'll do what we can."

Cramshak took out the portkey that they had given him and vanished back to where he had come from. Harry conjured a pair of overstuffed chairs for himself and Hermione across from her parents.

Sarah looked over at where her daughter and her daughter's husband had made themselves comfortable. Even as they engaged in small talk Sarah couldn't help but get the feeling that they were talking with each other using their magical link. She noticed how Hermione's hand was resting lightly on Harry's forearm. There was nothing overt, but the sense of their closeness was almost tangible nonetheless. They had just gone through an incredibly traumatic event, were publicly accused and humiliated, nearly killed, yet seemingly they remained happy so long as they were near each other.

"Are you okay Mum?" Hermione asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Sarah replied. For a moment she felt as if Hermione's eyes were piercing through her, larger than life.

"No reason," Hermione said, glad that her mum seemed to be okay despite having witnessed them being kidnapped and knowing that they were getting ready to go off to liberate what amounted to a concentration camp. "We should probably get ready, showing up like this probably won't be helpful."

They were both still wearing their muggle clothes which had become rather ragged from the abuse that they'd taken. They would need a new outfit, something different than their old Light Bearer uniforms.

"I was thinking of using the alchemy symbol on Flamel's journal," Hermione said.

"Amazing," Erwin said as the stones around Harry and Hermione's necks glowed briefly. Their muggle clothes were seamlessly replaced with a loose but still form fitting pair of black trousers and long sleeve shirts with a small golden symbol embroidered over their hearts. A great black mantle billowed out from behind decorated with the same symbol of a golden sun, radiant, and overlaid with a large open eye.

"I had thought about using the old Potter crest," Hermione said absently, "But we decided that it wasn't something best used for a revolt."

"So you decided to use an alchemy symbol?" Erwin asked.

"With the stone our magic is somewhat altered," Harry explained, though that was usually Hermione's roll. "It's basically the same, but it's like there is another layer of alchemic powers added over the top. We can conjure and transfigure with much greater ease, even things that normally would be difficult to alter, like the elements."

"I'm afraid that's a bit over my head," Sarah said with a laugh. Even though she had been around magic its use still was almost too fantastic to believe, let alone comprehend in any meaningful way.

"Like this," Hermione said. Her stone glowed briefly as a long solid blade of flame appeared in her hand. "In the past, the goblins used this kind of permanent fire to create weapons. With the stone, I'm getting close to being able to accomplish the same thing and I haven't even practiced my technique yet."

"Well, you do have a natural affinity for fire after all," Harry remarked, remembering their duel from their sixth year.

The flame dissipated as Hermione undid the energies that had held it together in a way that only she, as its creator, could. At that moment there was a sharp knock at the door and a second later Tonks entered the room.

"We were just getting ready to leave," Harry said quickly, knowing why she was there.

"However, there is something we need to have you and Ron do while we're gone," Hermione said. They had been quietly experimenting with their powers all afternoon as they waited for the evening by chatting with Hermione's parents and it was lucky that they had. They had discovered that the stone had one critical limitation; it could not facilitate the casting of the Killing Curse.

"We need you to scout Hogwarts for us," Harry said. "More specifically, we need a way to get inside and gain access to the Chamber of Secrets."

"Why on earth would you want to go there?" Tonks asked. "Do you need that wretched body?"

Hermione snorted derisively, "Of course not, it should be dead by now," she said. "However, we do want to destroy what is left of it and retrieve the wands we buried."

"You want that demon's wand?" Tonks said, still confused.

"Fawkes gave two tail feathers," Harry replied. "I'm hoping that it will be close enough to my chosen wand that I can use it almost as well."

"And Bellatrix was a powerful witch," Hermione added. "Plus Harry's wand worked well for me and mine for him. Their wands should serve us well too."

"But you've got the Philosopher's Stone now," Tonks protested. "What could you possibly need wands for anymore?"

"There's one spell we cannot cast with the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione replied. "Avada Kedavra is a curse of pure death that cannot emanate from the wellspring of immortality and healing that pervades the stone."

"Should you be going on this raid without a wand then?" Tonks asked, alarmed at their handicap.

"Our other powers more than make up for the inability to cast that curse," Harry said. "But it isn't an option we want to permanently forego, especially since we need wands if those creatures show up again."

He took out the necklace that Tonks have given them earlier and sent a tendril of magic into it. Immediately it tugged in the direction of its other half which was hopefully still with Remus.

"Don't worry Tonks," Hermione said kindly. "We'll get him back."

Tonks looked on anxiously as they vanished away in a silent blur of apparation.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm aware of how slowly this story is progressing, but in the short term it will only get slower since I'm busier now than ever before. Rest assured, however, that eventually this story will be completed in full. I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story. This is the third installment in a trilogy of stories so to any new readers I recommend reading the other two stories, which you can access via my user profile, to give this one the proper context. My trilogy replaces cannon books six and seven and adds an eighth.


	9. Chapter 9 – The First Duel

Chapter 9 – The First Duel

"_There it is,_" Harry said. He and Hermione had been forced to apparate repeatedly, each time getting closer to the hidden camp where the Ministry was holding its overflow of interred persons.

Now, rather than apparate any closer, Harry and Hermione transformed into their seldom used bird transfigurations to sneak up on the encampment as inconspicuously as possible.

"_We still need to be careful. The Ministry may be on the lookout for us in these forms now that our secret is out,_" Hermione said. It had been revealed during their "trial" that the Ministry had before witnessed them using their animagus forms.

Fortunately, however, it was dark and cloudy enough that two birds flying high in the sky wouldn't be very noticeable, even to someone wearing a vision enhancing eyepiece. They would have to be unlucky indeed to be discovered at this early stage of their infiltration.

The young couple's plan was to blend in with the multitude of prisoners, which from the size of the camp looked to number several dozen at least, to try to gather some information on the size and type of transportation inhibition fields that were in place. The camp was situated in the middle of an artificial clearing which seemed to be patrolled by at least a score of figures that were presumably magical law enforcement officials or perhaps aurors.

No one took notice of the two large birds of prey that landed in the camp on top of one of the makeshift huts that had clearly been constructed with hasty magic out of nearby trees. A lazy dirt road ran down through the center of the encampment in such a way that would lead an observant eye to believe that it had been frequented mostly by creatures other than muggles.

"_We're not going to fit in here,_" Harry said as he observed a few prisoners milling about for some reason. They were all wearing tattered grey uniforms with a misshapen "X" symbol on the back.

"_Then we'll just have to blend in a little more than we originally planned,_" Hermione replied. Unnoticed by anyone below the two great birds perched on the hut began to emit a slight reddish glow from a point around their feathery necks. Their forms darkened until they melted away entirely into shadow and slipped down toward the ground. In the growing night no one saw two strangely moving shadows as they slipped about the camp before finally disappearing into one of the small structures housing the prisoners.

"Something is coming," McGonagall said weakly. Even though they had only been captured for what amounted to a few hours they had suffered terribly. Though their wands had been taken, Remus and McGonagall were full fledged mages who were still potentially dangerous. To prevent escape their captors had shattered all the bones in their arms and legs. The broken bones served not only to incapacitate, but also to cloud the minds of the afflicted with too much pain to formulate any plans of resistance.

"I don't sense anything," Remus replied with a scratchy voice. Then again, Remus knew that McGonagall was much stronger and more knowledgeable than he.

"They wouldn't return at this hour," Jack added. A former muggle, Jack Ackart had been turned into a werewolf at the order of Voldemort. His days in the magical world had been mostly harsh, filled with fear and enslavement, which was punctuated by a brief period of hope when the Ministry appeared to extend his kind a helping hand at the end of the war. Those hopes had been dashed as the Ministry turned on the werewolves, rounding them up and sending them to camps such as the one Jack currently found himself in.

"Get out of here Jack, there's nothing you can do," McGonagall said as the floor turned black. Two human like shapes swirled up out of the unnatural shadow and took form with two tiny red lights, like distant fiery stars, shining just below their neckline.

"Impossible," Remus said breathlessly as the shadows solidified into Harry and Hermione.

"The All Seeing Star," McGonagall said when she saw the small symbol emblazoned on the front of their outfits.

"Harry and Hermione Potter," Jack said, instantly recognizing the faces of the two people his enslaver, Voldemort, had most wanted dead. He had been fortunate enough never to meet them in battle directly, but he had known some who had and barely survived to tell of it.

"You shouldn't have come here," Remus wheezed. "There's no way you can get us out of here and these wounds are cursed."

"You really should have paid more attention in magical history Remus," McGonagall said with a slight laugh. "Or at the very least you should recognize what "impossible" means in this situation."

"What are you two talking about?" Jack asked, somewhat overwhelmed by McGonagall's bad habit of being cryptic with her information coupled with the Potter's unexpected appearance.

"This," Harry said as he materialized a cup in his hand and filled it with Elixir from the stone around his neck. He took it and helped Remus drink the miracle healing substance. Hermione did likewise with McGonagall and the results began to take effect almost immediately. Bones remembered their original positions as they melded back together to the way they were before they had been broken.

"Amazing," Jack said, awed by the rapid repair of wounds that McGonagall had earlier told him were all but irreparable.

"The power of the Elixir of Life," McGonagall said as she sat up. "I recognize that sun symbol as the All Seeing Star, a symbol of alchemy's greatest power, the Philosopher Stone."

"I shouldn't be surprised," Remus said. He too was sitting up and stretching his limbs. "But I still am. How in the world did you manage to create two Philosopher Stones so quickly?"

"Professor Dumbledore entrusted us with Flamel's old journal," Hermione explained. "Plus, we had already conducted a fair bit of research on our own."

"More importantly, what is the situation exactly?" Harry asked. They needed to know what was going on as much as possible before commencing with the break out. "We've been trying to piece together an accurate picture of what the Ministry is doing ever since we were rescued."

"Most of us were picked up off of the streets just a few hours ago," Jack replied. "There are only two other wizards here, the rest of us were once ordinary muggles before we were captured by Voldemort and turned into werewolf soldiers."

Harry was a little surprised to hear Voldemort's name spoken so casually, but then again this man was a muggle who hadn't grown up with the taboo of that name permeating his surroundings. The world of muggles was filled with tyrants, both historical and current, so to him Voldemort was just another dictator using people for his own means.

Harry conjured chairs for himself and Hermione so that they could sit while Jack began his story. The muggle werewolf looked slightly put off when a dozen snakes erupted out of Harry's robes and took orders in snake language to stand guard, but his attention refocused once they had left the hut.

_Approximately three hours after Harry and Hermione had been seized from the Granger home…_

_Jack Ackart trudged down the store lined street of Diagon Alley looking for any job that would employ a werewolf. As a muggle he had been a promising student at the top of his engineering class, but now he knew that he wouldn't be content or equipped to ever return to that world. Of course, he hadn't even been a target of Voldemort's "recruitment" plan, but had happened upon an attack against a homeless man in a downtown alleyway. He thought it was a mugging and had attempted to help. No good deed goes unpunished._

_He had already struck out once this morning and the other position he was eyeing was in a store that wouldn't open until noon for some reason, probably because its owner was lazy or eccentric. So many wizards had unreasonable personalities. Jack took a seat on one of the sparse benches that dotted the alley and shuddered involuntarily at his proximity to Knockturn Alley. Unlike most denizens of the magical world he was a completely helpless muggle for most of the month and unable to protect himself in the slightest from unsavory persons. All he enjoyed in his human form was some heightened wolf-like senses. Of course, even when he transformed he was still weaker than most magical creatures. _

_Without warning his wolf-like senses that were suddenly telling him that a rather foul presence was approaching his location. Jack turned slightly, imperceptibly, and watched as four tall dark figures in Ministry robes entered the street abruptly. They had pale handsome faces and tall thin bodies, but some extra sensory feeling told Jack that they were not at all as they appeared to be. He had a distinct feeling of them that was at the same time both similar and different from the feeling he had gotten whenever he had glimpsed Voldemort or his avatars. These people felt cursed and dead, plus they smelled faintly of soil._

_He watched with trepidation as they began a sweep beginning at the point where they entered the alley and began moving toward his position. Along the way they stopped and questioned each individual that they met. Despite the Ministry symbol prominently displayed Jack could tell that these agents were somehow different from the ones he was used to dealing with. Their black robes were lined with silver runes and from what he could tell they carried no wands or other weapons._

"_Good day sir, as you can see we're with the Ministry in charge of Alley Security," one of the agents said. "All we need is your name, purpose, and any Ministry documents you might have been issued."_

"_Jack Ackart, looking for a job," Jack replied as he dug around for the papers he'd been issued as a muggle werewolf to entitle him to Ministry aid and other dispensations. _

"_Blimey, it's a bloody werewolf," a second agent with a thick Australian accent said as soon as Jack handed his papers over. The other agents moved their hands inside cloaks and removed strange looking weapons. Two of them had what appeared to be swords while the others had bows._

"_I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us sir," the first agent said. Pale hands reached out and seized Jack by the shoulders, wresting him to his feet._

"I didn't try to fight or protest," Jack said as he brought the recounting of his de facto arrest to a close. "Even if I didn't see a wand the Ministry's enforcers are too strong for a muggle to fight."

"What do you think they were, if not wizards?" Hermione asked, curious at Jack making a point to mention that they didn't carry wands, but instead some other kind of weird weapons that normal members of the magical world would never carry.

"Well, I don't know, but some of the other people here seemed to think that they are vampires," Jack replied.

"How could they be vampires?" Harry asked. "Sunlight is supposed to bother them, right?"

"I can't say about such things," Jack said. Hermione stood up and walked over to the wall of the hut to think while Harry continued asking questions. "Several people have reported hearing strange accents from them though."

"So, basically the Ministry has enlisted the aid of a bunch of people, probably made up of foreigners, who could be vampires," Harry said.

"So it would seem," Hermione said. "But what purpose could Fudge have for rounding up all the muggle werewolves?

"Is he planning to exterminate us?" Jack asked, alarmed at the implication he perceived.

"I didn't mean that," Hermione said. "Not that I don't think Fudge is capable of anything after what he tried to do to Harry and I, but if he just wanted to kill you there's no reason to sequester you in camps first."

"Maybe he wants to perform experiments or something," Harry suggested. "He did pardon Vitter after all."

"Or maybe he just wants an army of easy to manipulate and nearly disposable warriors like You Know Who did," Remus said cynically.

"My guess is that he's planning to exile them," Hermione said. "You said that some muggle born wizards and witches are here too, right? He wouldn't mix them in with the werewolves unless he was planning to have everyone share the same fate, which seems to be less than death. Exile makes the most sense. He's planning to purge England of all the undesirables."

"Then why did he try to execute you and Harry?" Jack asked.

"We're too powerful," Harry said. "He knew that in the end we can mount serious opposition to what the Ministry desires."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm about ready to leave this place," McGonagall said dryly. She loved speculation as much as the next intellectual, but there was a time and a place. "Or we could sit around guessing for the rest of the night."

"We were planning on taking everyone with us," Hermione said. "That means we need to at least see each prisoner to try and spot any Ministry plants."

"The longer we wait around here the more likely you'll be discovered though," Remus said.

"It can't be helped," Harry replied. "Besides which, the guards have no reason to venture into the compound and there's no chance that we can walk this many people across the portkey inhibitor line without being spotted. Organizing this as much as possible will make the escape go quicker and with luck we will be gone before the Ministry can respond."

"Here, take these," Hermione said, handing portkey bracelets that she conjured and imbued on the spot. "They'll automatically take you to Riddle Manor as soon as you get outside the wards."

"We're going to Riddle Manor?" Jack asked, somewhat stunned. He had never been to the dark headquarters of Voldemort, but it had a mysterious and dangerous reputation amongst the werewolves that had served the Dark Lord.

"Grimmauld Place was nearly discovered by the Ministry," Harry said. "We're not going to risk returning there for a while."

"I guess this means you didn't actually go on your honeymoon as promised?" Remus asked, smirking knowingly.

"Er, I think it counts," Hermione said, blushing slightly.

"We got to read lots of books," Harry said cheekily. "Wait for us here."

Before Remus could respond the pair melted away in some incomprehensible alchemic manipulation of their bodies and left the narrow confines of the hut.

"What do you think they're going to do?" McGonagall asked. Remus had been a closer companion to the young couple than she had since her position at Hogwarts had kept her tied down and away from them far more than the scruffy werewolf.

"Hermione has been looking for a chance to change the way the magical world works for a long time now," Remus replied. Though he was sure that she had hoped to do it persuasively over time, like with her efforts in S.P.E.W., but now that the Ministry had forced the matter her means were likely to be much different.

"What about Harry?" McGonagall asked.

"They tried to kill Hermione," Remus said simply. "Of course, he isn't happy with the state of affairs in the magical world. Neither am I for that matter."

"They shouldn't have to fight another war," McGonagall said softly.

"Even if we escape, we don't have anywhere to go!" was the protest from the small crowd of muggle werewolves that had gathered around Harry and Hermione. As they went from hut to hut the forlorn captives, though eager to have their freedom returned, were fearful that it would be an exercise in futility.

"You can come with us," Harry said. "If you want, we can keep you under what protection we can offer so long as this whole mess is unresolved."

"We're not charity cases," a tall lean looking man said. "Even if we come with you we want to help fight."

"Yeah, we've been ordered around by you wizards ever since we were kidnapped," a heavy set woman said indignantly. "We heard all kinds of things about you two from Voldemort, from other folks, and then from the Ministry. How we supposed to know you two just don't want to use us like everyone else?"

"Ah, well, we wouldn't do that," Harry said, searching for some kind of argument that might persuade them. Their skepticism of wizards was understandable though. First, they had been enslaved and turned into werewolves for Voldemort's private army. Then the Ministry had betrayed them by rounding them up for purposes unknown.

"It doesn't matter because you don't have a choice," Hermione said finally.

"Oh? Are you going to make us missy?" the heavy set woman retorted.

"I could, but it isn't necessary. Your alternative to coming with us is to stay here and wait for the Ministry to do whatever it's going to do to you," Hermione replied. "As for you mistrusting our intentions, I can't help that. Once you've come with us you can judge our actions first hand instead of trying to speculate based on all the third hand rumors you've heard from our enemies."

"Hermione's right," Harry said, drawn back down to reality. They didn't have time to attempt to pacify everyone. "So what's it going to be?"

"I want out of this place," tall and thin said. "Just keep in mind that we're done being controlled. Even if you are wizards, come the next full moon you'll have to exterminate us if you try to order us around."

"Then take these," Harry said, ignoring the threat as he conjured portkey bracelets. "Someone will come around again in a few minutes to tell you which direction to flee in while we take care of the guards."

They didn't stay behind long enough to hear the muted whispers and murmuring as they melted away back to where the others were waiting for them.

"Well, are you satisfied?" Jack asked as soon as they reappeared.

"Yeah, I think so," Harry said.

"Then what's the plan?" Remus asked.

"From what we could tell as we were flying in the easiest way out would be to follow the remnants of the old road. It seems to lead to one of the nearer edges of the portkey inhibition field." Hermione said.

"Flew?" Jack said questioningly. Remus looked at them askance for being so careless with their secret. Of course, the secret was no more.

"The Ministry found out about our animagus transformations," Harry said. "I'm sure detailed descriptions will be available in tomorrow's _Prophet_."

"I see," McGonagall said with annoyance.

"It can't be helped now," Harry said.

"We want to split into two groups," Hermione interjected in an attempt to keep things on track. Everyone was remarkably whimsical considering that they were planning to sneak a few dozen muggle werewolves out from under the Ministry. "Remus, why don't you take Jack with you and Professor McGonagall can take the other group. Harry and I will go first to open the way."

No one said anything, merely nodding in concurrence as they dispersed to begin the escape.

"_Do you really think we can protect this many people at once?_" Harry asked as he watched over the line of dark forms beginning to stream out of the huts in a race towards the border.

"_I don't know,_" Hermione said. The problem wasn't that they anticipated quality resistance, but rather than the long line of people running through the night would be hard to cover all at once. "_But, it looks like we're going to get our first chance right now._"

Four grey clothed agents sporting an ungainly "X" insignia on their backs were running toward the escaping prisoners. Their progress was arrested sharply as Harry and Hermione suddenly appeared in their path.

"We would have you let them escape unhindered," Harry said lazily.

"It's the Potters," one of the grey clothes said. "Send out the alert."

Four stunners lanced out across the short distance as a second agent reached for a crystal sphere nestled in a holster on his belt. The spells impacted and to Harry's shock nothing happened. Two of the men burst into black mist and disappeared, the other two launched themselves bodily toward the off balance couple.

"They're vampires," Hermione yelled as she saw claws and fangs extend in the dim light. Her body bristled with wooden spikes unexpectedly and the four agents were impaled multiple times.

"I don't think that worked," Harry said as the four agents burst into black mist again and disappeared.

"There's something weird about them," Hermione said. The four agents reformed in a loose circle around the young couple. They produced bows seemingly out of no where and took aim with strangely colored arrows.

"Avada Kedavra," Harry yelled with surprise as the killing curse exploded behind him. He had narrowly dodged the attack when he realized what it was in midair.

"Vampires shouldn't be able to use magic like this," Hermione said. "No one should."

"They're definitely more spell resistant than they should be too," Harry said. He raked the agent nearest to him with blue tinged lightening to no effect.

"They still have some of their original weaknesses though," Hermione said. Her bright beam of white hot fire had incinerated one of the vampires in a flash. The other three, seeing the fate of the fourth, burst into mist and disappeared into the night.

"We've got to get back to the lines," Harry said. They turned around and ran back toward their charges with the help of an acceleration charm after picking up the weapons of the fallen vampire.

"We've already been discovered," Hermione said in a low voice when they reached the first group. Harry continued on to where the other group was moving parallel to their position a few dozen yards away. "Everyone needs to run even though it's a bit far you can still probably make it to the edge before your strength runs out."

"I wish you had thought to bring us wands," McGonagall replied. She twisted and shrank into her cat form so that she could run with animalistic speed. Hermione watched her give a parting meow as she leapt off into the night.

"_How many more are there?_" Harry asked as he watched over his line of escapees. They hadn't been disturbed any more since the vampires had abandoned them and as a result had reached the edge of the portkey interdiction field.

"_I don't know, but they're here,_" Hermione said. Her skin crawled from the sensation of an intense magical presence descending on their position.

"_It's those two that Ron told us about,_" Harry said. Fog had begun to roll in across the clearing in a way suspiciously convenient for the approaching siblings.

"It appears that the two of you are full of more tricks than we originally suspected," Septimus said. The leisurely stroll of their new opponents had brought them into casual conversation range with Harry and Hermione.

"Weren't you dying the last time we saw you?" Sense asked before breaking into a fit of giggling.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" Hermione retorted. "We're not asleep this time."

"It won't make any difference," Septimus said confidently. "We don't even have to capture you alive anymore."

"Kill-On-Sight," Sense said, exaggerating every word whilst still laughing. She drew a wand and waved it aimlessly. The ground next to Remus' line of escapees exploded violently throwing several of them to the ground. She waved it again, but this time Harry had interposed himself between her and her intended targets. The spells evaporated easily under the effects of the Sorcerer's Stone.

Septimus' eyes narrowed as he waved his own wand and sent a flurry of spells toward Hermione. A wall of fire engulfed the spells and descended on Septimus' position, forcing him back.

"Interesting," Septimus said. Sense deftly evaded or blocked several probing bolts of magical energy from Harry and rejoined her brother's side. "You're not using wands are you?"

"If you realize that much then you know what the outcome will be," Hermione said.

Sense broke out laughing again and even Septimus chuckled. Harry clenched his fist anxiously at their carefree attitude.

"You really don't have any idea who we are do you?" Septimus said, his voice belying his amusement.

"Your names are Artemis right?" Harry said. "Brother and sister?"

"You really don't have any idea do you little boy?" Sense said, grinning wickedly. "Shall we show them Septimus?"

"Of course Sense," Septimus replied.

"_They're putting their wands away,_" Harry said. Instantly a bone jarring spell flattened the entire area around which Harry and Hermione were standing. The two of them were barely able to exude enough magical energy to remain standing and unharmed.

"What kind of trick is this?" Hermione yelled. No one should be able to match their power.

"You're obviously overconfident in your alchemy imitation," Septimus said. He waved his hand slightly, but the force of the magical blow that landed on Harry and Hermione was enough to throw them down nearly unconscious. "Let us show you what the real power can do!"

"_They're the sorcerers that Flamel fought with,_" Hermione said as realization struck her forcefully. How else could they know about alchemic sorcery? "_This is bad._"

It was bad not only because they were dealing with the only type of mage able to go one on one against a Stone user and win, but because these particular sorcerers had decades of experience on them in using their powers. Harry and Hermione on the other hand had literally a few hours of first hand learning in manipulating magical energies throughout their bodies rather than concentrating them through wands.

Harry reached forward with his hand and clenched it shut, but instead of breaking bones or rending flesh his invisible attack had no effect. Hermione gestured and lances of stone shot out of the ground, but their tips blunted and crumbled on impact with the two sorcerers.

"_We're completely overpowered,_" Harry said. He lifted his hands, fists clenched, and waited for a moment as black lightening coiled around his arms before boiling off toward Septimus.

"Useless," Septimus said, his hastily conjured shield absorbing the underpowered attack. He staggered slightly as Harry mimicked his earlier attack, but Sense stepped in between her brother and the onslaught to absorb it herself.

Harry brought his stone to his lips and drank deeply from the Elixir as Sense's counter spell gouged into his flesh where he failed to block it. The pain receded and Hermione drew in close to him to concentrate on defense.

"_I'll stop their attacks, just concentrate on defeating them Harry,_" Hermione said reassuringly. Harry's raw magical power once against outstripped her own, especially since sorcery was less about knowledge and more about the magnification of innate potential.

Harry gestured again, this time causing a hail of breaking spells to flash against Septimus' shield until it began to break apart. However, as quickly as damage appeared it began to heal when the sorcerer realized what was happening and started feeding magical energy back into the spell.

Hermione shuddered as thousands of tiny needle-like projectiles wore away at her defenses. Harry's attacks were likewise being repelled by Septimus who seemed to be content to let his sister do most of the offensive work.

"_Stay close, I'm going to try to finish moving us clear of the ward,_" Hermione said. They were both breathing heavily, even with the rejuvenating effects of the Elixir working for them. They were simply using too much of their own innate magical reserves to fuel the stone's unending hunger for energy in battle.

Fortunately their skirmish with the Artemis siblings had bought enough time for Remus and McGonagall to get everyone to safety. Now that there was nothing keeping them at this place it appeared that it was time to make their own escape.

"Leaving already?" Septimus asked smoothly. Muted flashes of light followed by dull reverberations as pure energy spells were dissipated into the atmosphere rocked both sides of the conflict. Yet in the middle of that maelstrom the participants remained remarkably calm.

"We've already accomplished our goal here," Hermione replied. She wiped her bushy hair back out of her eyes. There was a flicker and then they disappeared under the influence of their portkeys.

"He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day," Septimus said flatly into the empty space.

"Harry, Hermione, are you all right?" Ron asked frantically when they appeared at the pre-designated point. He relaxed immediately when he saw that they could stand and move freely.

"We had feared that there might have been problems when we saw that those two could match your powers," McGonagall said.

"There's trouble," Harry said. He sat down heavily on a chair that one of the muggle werewolves had brought over and was joined by Hermione a moment later. "Those two are the sorcerers that Flamel fought in Russia."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked. Ron and Luna looked similarly confused. McGonagall on the other hand had turned white as a sheet.

"Is Fudge insane?" she said softly. Such terrible individuals as they would have been better left alone in whatever seclusion Flamel had driven them into.

"Is it really that bad?" Luna asked.

"They tried to rule the world once, or at least that's what Flamel's journal implied," Hermione said ruefully.

"Then they're that powerful?" Ron said, still disbelieving.

"You wouldn't know," McGonagall said, finally finding her voice. "The sorcerers Nicholas fought were monsters in ever sense of the word. Nicholas spoke of their twisted goal of creating some kind of magical dynasty to rule, but what they desired most was carnage, random violence. If they're unleashed again it could be the end."

"The end of us?" Harry asked, quite concerned now. Flamel must have glossed over some of the horror of these people in his journal for McGonagall to have such a visible reaction.

"The end of history," McGonagall replied.


	10. Chapter 10 – Madam, May I?

Chapter 10 – Madam, May I

Luna watched quietly while Hermione's hand, slightly glowing from some alchemic process combined with a powerful spell of binding, dipped into the swirling crystal coffin shaped box that Voldemort had left behind, presumably to act as a self destruct option for his experimental lab.

Riddle Manor had settled down some in the weeks following the retrieval of McGonagall, Remus, and the other loyal professors from the clutched of the Ministry. Even though Harry and Hermione had raided similar compounds all across England they had made sure to divert the people they freed to Middle Yard. The former prison fortress now made a comfortable residence for several hundred werewolves who would otherwise have been homeless.

"I think its time to rest," Hermione said suddenly. She pulled her hand out of the crystal box and stepped back.

"You've been conjuring so much I'm surprised you can go on even with the regenerative powers of the stone," Luna said softly. She was referring to the stored spells and utilization weapons that the werewolves had requested when they discovered the nature of the vampire's armaments. The Ministry had apparently used its pet sorcerers to overcome the vampire's problems of being unable to use any magic other than their own special kind.

Many lethal curses had been stored in corporeal forms shaped like arrows and then wedded to special bows that would act as wands for the stored spells. This enabled the vampires to engage in lethal wizard's duels of a sort, though it was still somewhat inferior to a normal mage's abilities. They had also been equipped with elemental swords based off of the design that Hermione had encountered before at the Battle of Hogsmeade during her fight with the giants.

"Harry's been carrying a lot of the burden," Hermione replied. She smiled at Luna. "But he's got a lot of magical energy so it's good for him, right?"

"I think so," Luna said with a typically melodious tone. "I know Ronald needs a lot to occupy him or else he becomes bored."

"Are you sad that you're going to miss out on your final year at Hogwarts after all?" Hermione asked.

"Not really," Luna replied thoughtfully. "Most of our professors are staying here anyway."

"But you don't get the same experience," Hermione said. Secretly she was somewhat dismayed that Voldemort had cheated her out of her final year at the big castle. Of course, such was a small price to pay considering that she had survived the war along with Harry.

Luna giggled. Hermione never knew what to talk about when it was just the two of them.

"The only experience I miss is going on the annual expeditions that Daddy used to take before everything got crazy," Luna said lightly. "But I'm sure that we can go again next year. Maybe then there will be a big enough herd of Liffy-Flies for us to get some pictures."

Hermione had long ago gotten desensitized to Luna's fanciful creatures and so managed to nod seriously without even changing facial expression. She even managed not to ask how _flies_ could possibly form a _herd_.

"All right, enough rest," Hermione said. "I want to get these modifications finished and the entire case set up before Harry gets back."

This desire was perfectly understandable, even to Luna. The blonde haired girl was sometimes rather awed by Hermione's resilient and upbeat attitude despite the ongoing efforts of the world to seemingly conspire against her happiness.

"You miss him," Luna said. Even though Harry hadn't been gone very long, he was quite far removed. Although Luna realized that her relationship with Ron wasn't as close as Hermione's with Harry, yet, she still wished the red head was with her.

"Not so much," Hermione said. She tapped her temple slightly with one finger. "He's never far after all."

"It must be nice," Luna replied softly.

"It is," Hermione said shortly. "But no one should feel too envious of this ability. I'm beginning to think that the prophecy had a hand in crafting our powers, including our bond. After all, as things turned out Harry wouldn't have had a chance to defeat Voldemort without it."

Luna winced slightly, but didn't let her carefree demeanor slip. She saw the point that Hermione was driving at and it wasn't terribly pleasant. The powers that many feared and envied the Potters for were forged as a result of the fate that the prophecy had bound Harry to.

"You shouldn't think about things like that," Luna said finally, her eyes taking on an almost owlish quality as she studied Hermione's face.

"You're right," Hermione said, smiling again at Luna's insight, typically masked in the feeling of unawareness of her surroundings that she typically exuded. "At least, I'd best think about this for now."

Hermione flicked her wrist to summon the container that held the remaining shards of the Philosopher's Stone. The destructive force of the failed conjure decompression bomb might be enough to destroy Riddle Manor and its surrounding grounds, but if it were to serve as an effective self destruct for Middle Yard then its effects would need to be enhanced.

The reason that she and Harry had set upon this plan was two fold. Middle Yard was now front and center as a staging ground for the werewolves that had joined their cause. As a result of so many individuals trafficking through its gates and the risk each full moon posed it was possible that the security of the tower fortress might be compromised. If that were to happen eliminating all traces of their presence would be paramount to prevent any materials there from being used against them. Then there was also a less tangible concern that the Potters had begun to feel as a result of their new appreciation for the flow of magic around them due to the effects of the Sorcerer's Stone. Middle Yard was simply no longer safe. A contingency was needed.

Hermione had balanced the largest piece of stone fragment in the center of the coffin-like crystal box and then positioned the remaining fragments around them in such a way that when the device would activate the stone shards would be smashed together. The destruction of the stones would release the massive amounts of stored magical energy that catalyzed the amazing properties of the stone. That magic would combine with the unstable energies of the failed conjuring and magnify the energy release many times over.

Even though the process sounded simple it was difficult for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the inherent instability of Voldemort's weapon continually threatening to grind the stones down to dust without waiting for any signal from the spells controlling the activation of the device.

"We'll need to find someone to help us carry this thing," Hermione said, exhausted but smiling as she finally withdrew her hands at the completion of her work.

"I think Mr. Ackart is around here somewhere," Luna replied. Jack Ackart and several werewolves had insisted on staying at Riddle Manor so that they could stay informed about outside events and pass that information on to their isolated comrades at Middle Yard. "I'll go find him. You should probably rest."

"_I thought my days of getting exhausted were over,_" Hermione thought as she sucked Elixir from her Philosopher's Stone. She and Harry had quickly discovered that though their power was magnified it still had some very definite limits. The temptation to expend ever increasing amounts of magical energy on projects such as this had made many of those limitations starkly clear.

"That was fast," Hermione said, looking up as footsteps clicked against the stone floors.

"What's this about needing someone to carry stuff like muggles?" Jack asked jovially. Three other werewolves that Hermione didn't recognize had come with him.

"This thing is too unstable to move with levitation," Hermione said. "It should be okay to send it through a portkey though if I shield it properly, but once I get it to where we're going it will need to be carried quite a ways from the place the portkey will appear at."

"And where precisely are we taking it?" Jack asked.

"To Middle Yard," Hermione said. Jack looked startled since he had been informed about what the crystal box's function was. "Don't worry, it's just a precaution. There are so many people at Middle Yard now that its discovery has become a real possibility. The Ministry can't be allowed to step foot in such a place as I'm sure you can appreciate."

"Okay, I suppose not," Jack replied. He didn't mention that the great black tower always gave him the creeps or that he wasn't too thrilled about having what amounted to a huge bomb sitting underneath a place housing hundreds of people.

Hermione watched the four werewolves clumsily adjust their mantles, which were identical to her own since they had decided to fight under the Potters instead of the Light Bearers, before they tried to pick up the crystal box. Once they were stable Hermione draped a piece of rope that had been transfigured into a portkey around them so that they would all transport together.

The halls of Middle Yard were bustling with activity as the werewolves calling the foreboding place home went about their daily chores of cooking, cleaning, and practicing with the strange new weapons their benefactors had crafted for them by using the weapons scavenged from a defeated vampire as a pattern. A few waved, but most took no notice of the small procession as it moved past the habitable areas and into the corridors that led to the sublevels at the root of the structure.

"Here, this is the center of the structure," Luna said softly. Through the dim light the werewolves, who were growing quite weary of their burden, could see a slightly raised section in the middle of a room that was actually designed to be a sort of keep within a keep.

"Luna, you hold on to this one," Hermione said. She handed the blonde haired girl a small crystal rod that was covered with various nicks and cuts. It was in fact a key to the device. When the crystal was affixed it completed the magical equivalent of a circuit that was necessary for Voldemort's bomb to detonate.

"So, what'll happen if you set that thing off?" Jack asked casually. "I mean, I get the whole big bang, tower's flattened, but is that it?"

"That isn't enough?" Luna asked. Hermione rolled her eyes at Luna of all people being incredulous about something someone else said.

"We'll, we don't know for sure," Hermione replied lightly. "I've examined Voldemort's notes though and all the theoretical underpinnings of the device so I think I've got a good idea. It should be a very tidy explosion with a precise radius in all directions from this point and almost no bleeding over into the surrounding geography."

"So then it's not like a, uh," Jack said, unsure of how to phrase it.

"Like the muggle explosive metal bomb?" Hermione said. "No, there shouldn't be any long lasting effects with this device."

"I hope I never have to see it," Jack said finally before shifting track. "So, do you want me to have a guard stationed down here?"

"That won't be necessary," Hermione said. She clasped her stone firmly in her right hand and drew a complicated spell form in the air. As soon as the last stroke was completed it formed a hexagonal barrier around the device instead of disappearing like such spell forms typically did. "Everyone needs to get back."

"You're keying it to me?" Luna said.

"It wouldn't do much good for you to have an arming key and not be able to get through the defenses," Hermione said. Her stone glowed again and a dozen golems walked out of the black walls one step before freezing in place.

"That won't stop them you know," Luna said thoughtfully.

"If they manage to get this deep then it won't matter," Hermione said. Her eyes lost focus for a moment. "Harry and Ron should be done before long. We should be getting back as well."

The air flickered almost imperceptibly an instant before Harry appeared in front of a small rural cottage. A fraction of a second later Ron appeared next to him without a sound. Together, the two of them approached the cottage slowly, wary of safety measures. Ron took out his wand once they reached the entrance and tapped the door twice. Immediately it opened and allowed them to enter.

"I was wondering when you would show up here," Madam Bones said softly. She waved her wand and the door squelched shut. "I am glad to see you alive Harry, though I wish this were under better circumstances."

The inside of the cottage was sparsely decorated except for dozens of volumes of books and what appeared to be a fully stocked potions lab. Though it wasn't visible, knowing Madam Bones the center of the cottage was actually a small fortified room like the one she had used to hold out against an avatar attack until help could arrive. Even though they had barely met, Harry had never seen a more cautious deliberate mind, except possibly for Dumbledore and Hermione, than Madam Bones. She was precisely the kind of formidable witch that they were going to need.

"Thank you Madam Bones," Harry said politely. "Hermione and I appreciated your support during the trial."

"As you can imagine there are many things we'd like to discuss," Ron said, taking point.

"Please, call me Amelia," Madam Bones said, smiling weakly. "Though I can imagine what you might want to discuss I'm not sure what you could expect me to do. I'm sure you're aware that I have almost no influence at the Ministry anymore."

"The trial made that apparent," Harry said dryly.

"You still are a widely respected member of the magical community," Ron said hurriedly. "Everyone respects you. Father always spoke very highly of your work."

"T-Thank you," Amelia said, her voice betraying some sadness. "Your father was a good man who accomplished a lot during his time at the Ministry. All of us in the old crowd were devastated at his loss."

"Then don't let his work be undone now," Ron said swiftly. "Fudge is busily repealing every muggle protection law and instituting a new regime of pureblood dominance."

"What exactly are you proposing?" Amelia asked.

"The Minister cannot be allowed to get away with it," Harry said evenly.

"You are talking about rebellion," Amelia said flatly. "Rule by the strongest is a dangerous precedent to set."

"Fudge has no right to do the things he's doing," Ron said. "Surely you agree he must be stopped and that no other means exist now except force."

"Force will not be so easy, even for the Chosen One," Amelia replied. "Even if you succeed England will be open to chaos, exposure, and disaster. The Ministry puts out a hundred little fires a day, any one of which could blossom into an inferno if left unattended."

"That's why we're here," Ron said eagerly. "We want you to be Minister."

"Me?" Amelia asked. She didn't sound very shocked and Harry thought that she surely must have had some inkling that this proposal was in the cards from the moment they arrived.

"You said it yourself, the Ministry is needed," Harry said. "Who is more qualified than you?"

"I could think of a few," Amelia said dryly. "Of course, if I'm involved in a rebellion then I won't have any more credibility than Fudge does right now."

"That's why you won't be involved," Harry said. "Neither will Ron and the other Light Bearers, at least not officially."

"So the rumors are true then," Amelia said. It was at that point that she fully took in the distinctive clothing that the two wore. Ron was dressed in his golden trimmed robes bearing the large torch emblem down the front while Harry was wearing a mantle with an ancient symbol of alchemy, the All Seeing Star, on the back and an identical emblem on upper right hand side of his chest.

"Harry and Hermione just wanted to retire," Ron said, coming to his friend's defense.

"If all things were equal we would still just retire," Harry said.

Amelia knew this was undoubtedly the truth. Harry and Hermione were powerful enough that they could simply leave this world behind. However, if they did that then there would be nothing to stop the designs of whatever tyrant wanted to pick up where Voldemort left off.

"But all things are not equal," Harry continued. "Hermione and I have decided to end the Ministry as it currently exists. We will take full responsibility. Then, once it is finished we will leave and the future will belong to you. Can we entrust this to you? Will you accept such a burden?"

"How could I not," Amelia said softly. The Ministry was corrupt and it would just keep on getting more corrupt. Even if she failed as Minister, Amelia did not foresee the outcome as being much worse than the outcome Fudge seemed to have set the nation on. Yes, if Harry wanted to save England one more time she would do whatever she could to ensure his efforts were not in vain.

"Then it is probably best if you stay hidden," Ron said. He pulled a small sliver object out of his robes and handed it to her. "If an emergency arises you can summon the Light Bearers with this device."

"So…until that day?" Amelia said, almost disbelieving at the things that had transpired in what seemed like such a brief amount of time.

"Until then," Ron said simply. The two shook hands with her before gliding back out the door and shimmering away with as little fanfare as their arrival.

"This is bloody exhausting," Ron said, gasping for air as he stood suspended by one of Harry's enchanted boots over the mid-Atlantic. "How do you jump so far with each apparation?"

"More energy yields a greater distance," Harry said, grinning at him. He took out a small bottle and offered it to Ron. "Some Elixir should fix you up."

"No way," Ron said irritably. "This stuff probably has the typical dozen bloody side effects that come with all your shortcuts."

"You wound me," Harry said lightly. Ron had a point though. Half of the things they did usually turned out bad in some unforeseen way. "Even if you don't want to use it, keep it with you. It would be better than dying, right?"

"Fine," Ron said, taking the bottle and tucking it away.

Still, even without the Elixir the trip across the Atlantic to the arranged meeting place in America was fairly quick and easy for two wizards traveling light. Their destination turned out to be a most unusual place though. When they arrived at the coordinates stipulated in upper state New York all they found was a flat dark grey platform sitting in the middle of a field and surrounded by strange, obviously magical underbrush.

"Was this expected?" Harry asked quietly, his hand finding the small crimson orb hanging from his necklace.

"From what Remus said, more or less," Ron replied. A minute ticked by, then another, so they just stood there waiting for something to happen.

"Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley?" a hidden voice called out from the surroundings.

"Yes, we've come at the invitation of Chairman Van Devanter," Ron said.

"Indeed," was the reply as two dozen wizards emerged in a circle around them. Each was dressed in a grey uniform and had a hand on their wands, though they at least were not pointing them at the two visitors.

"You will accompany us," another of the wizards said. He held out two small tokens. "Take these portkeys."

Harry looked at them dispassionately for a moment and then laid a finger on the portkey offered to him. Almost instantly he was rushed through the whirlwind of near instantaneous travel and deposited in a room decorated in an early 18th century style. He had summoned up a great deal of magical power prior to the portkey's activation so he didn't stumble. Ron apparently hadn't been so cautious, but his unsteadiness was brief and barely noticeable.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, the Secretary of the Interior will be with you shortly," a silver haired wizard in loose black robes told them. After showing them to a seat he quickly scuttled out of the room.

"Isn't that a muggle post or something?" Ron asked quietly as they sat waiting.

"I don't know," Harry said idly. He doubted if even Hermione would know such a mundane bit of trivia.

"Hello, I'm so sorry to keep you waiting," a man with light colored hair that was now turning grey entered the room from the side and strode over to where Harry and Ron were sitting. The two of them stood and shook his hand in turn. "I'm Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior."

"Harry Potter," Harry said. Without his iconic scar he wasn't quite as recognizable as he once was, especially out of England.

"Ronald Weasley," Ron said. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us Mr. Secretary."

"Please, call me Bruce, there's no need for muggle formalities here," Mr. Babbitt said. "Chairman Van Devanter is scheduled to arrive shortly, but for now perhaps we can discuss in more detail the purpose for your visit."

"After the critical aid that this nation provided at the end of the Prophecy War we wanted to demonstrate a gesture of good will and investigate the full extent of our common interests," Ron said. Of course, the American aid had been almost negligible to the point where it was doubtful if it had even made any difference at all in the long run.

"As you're well aware, the Council did not send any aid to irregular forces in England," Mr. Babbitt said smoothly. "However, the magical consultants that some of the local guilds formed to investigate the veracity of certain international reports will be pleased with whatever gesture you might care to offer."

"Of course," Ron said dryly. They were all alone in a private room. Did the guy really need to speak in vague quasi-transparent code?

"Several of the, er, magical consultants were injured, accidentally I assume," Harry said as he fingered the red jewel dangling from his heck. "I believe that their injuries are well within my means to heal."

"I'm sure that they will eagerly accept such a boon," Mr. Babbitt replied. He stood. "I look forward to further talks, but in the meantime I will go and make the necessary arrangements to have the individuals of whom you speak brought to this place."

"Thank you," Ron said. He opened his mouth to say more, but the Secretary was already on his way out.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in the antique chair that their American hosts had placed him in. Nearby Ron was looking far more at ease for some reason despite having handled most of the talking up to that point.

Their mission thus far had been fairly successful and to be honest Harry's mind was still back on the meeting with Madam Bones, which he considered to have been far more important than their current efforts with the Americans.

"Gentlemen," the silver haired man that had initially greeted them had returned. "If you'd come this way please. Chairman Van Devanter will see you now."

Harry waited for Ron to go first before following the attendant down a long hall way to another room that looked as if it were ripped out of the mid seventeen hundreds. A long, finely finished table dominated the space, which was otherwise mostly decorated with small tables and many shelves filled with books of every sort, magical and muggle. At the center of the table, lengthways, Chairman Willis Van Devanter sat placidly. When they entered he rose and greeted them each in turn before indicating with an open hand where they were to sit across from him.

"This is to be a general meeting of the Congress," Van Devanter said once everyone was settled. "Our friends from England have been invited to attend as observers and advisers during this state of emergency because of their unique position of insight into the current internal English affairs."

"Sir, if I may," Ron said, interrupting. All eyes swiveled to him, some with overt hostility; others will a mixture of bemusement and contempt. "To what emergency are you referring?"

"We assumed you would know," Van Devanter said. "General Longstreet, would you summarize the military situation?"

General Longstreet was an ancient looking man with a long stiff white beard and nearly completely bald head. He still sat straight in his chair and spoke authoritatively with a deep Southern accent.

"According to our best information Minister Fudge has invoked the Treaty Force and is currently drawing mounted combat divisions from across Europe," Longstreet said. He waved his wand and a ghostly map appeared over the table.

"As you can see indicated here, and here," He said, jabbing toward the map as he spoke, "The Ministry is assembling a considerable attack force consisting of a minimum of fifteen hundred dragon mounted wizards of auror level or higher."

Harry felt his breath catch slightly. Just what was Fudge doing and why was he only finding out about this from the Americans of all people.

"The goal of these two mounted forces is to escort groups of vampires across the Atlantic to the Canadian provinces still under English control," Longstreet continued.

"Wait, what?" Ron asked, incredulous. "The Ministry is using vampires as police, why would they want to ship a whole load of them to Canada?"

"The Ministry has made a deal with them," Van Devanter said grimly. "We're not sure the details, but the Ministry has ceded all its Canadian lands to the Vampire people as a whole."

Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. He glanced over at Ron, who was still talking frantically.

"What do you intend to do?" Harry asked quietly. Ron stopped talking, as did several of the other council members who had pitched into the uproar.

"The guilds are prepared to repel this aggression by any force necessary," Longstreet said vehemently.

"We will never tolerate such an incursion," Van Devanter said sternly. "The death toll could be catastrophic. We have no means to police so many of those creatures in such close proximity nestled away in their own territory. If your government persists in this we will be left with no other option but war."

Ron exploded with indignation and the room erupted back into pandemonium. Harry sat back weakly and tried to analyze the inevitable outcome of such a conflict. If England were drawing in support from Europe then it could turn into a full scale battle between continents, possibly even another world war. In such a conflict even the muggles might be drawn in like they had been in the past.

"Give us time," Harry said. Attention focused again and the din quieted abruptly.

"Give you time to do what?" Van Devanter asked.

"The Ministry doesn't speak for the English wizards, not for most of them anyway," Harry said. "Give us time to resolve this matter internally. Don't attack first."

"You are asking a lot of us to allow such a large force to mass unmolested when we know its purpose will work such a great evil against us," Van Devanter said slowly. "We will give you as much time as we can, however, if the forces now assembling in England set off as escort for the vampire contingent your time will be up. We will have no choice but to commit our entire army to stopping the migration at all costs."

"It won't come to that," Harry said.

"And if it does?" Van Devanter prodded.

"Then," Harry said unevenly, "Then I will stop them myself."

"You'd fight an entire army?" Longstreet asked contemptuously. "Even an army under English flag and purpose?"

"Whatever Fudge's aims are they are most assuredly not in the best interest of England," Ron said hotly. "He's become a dictator and a usurper; in office far beyond his term wielding powers he was never meant to have."

"Just what assurances do we have that you can accomplish anything?" another councilman asked with an overtly hostile tone. "Chairman, we need to interrupt their mad designs before they are prepared. We need to strike now!"

"Harry defeated V-Voldemort," Ron said swiftly. "The most powerful dark wizard…"

"This "Voldemort" character may have ruffled some English feathers, but he was hardly the menace those yellow dogs made it out to be," Longstreet said boorishly.

The entire room plunged into a deep chill such that even the light dimmed noticeably. In the middle of the phenomenon Harry had taken on a fearsome and foreboding appearance. In the midst of the gathering gloom the relatively tiny sphere glowed strongly and cast a blood red hue upon the surroundings. Each mage present could feel an inordinate amount of power being gathered.

"The symbol on your clothing," Van Devanter said softly. "It isn't just for show then."

"The power of infinite alterations," Longstreet muttered.

"A vote then," Van Devanter said swiftly. "Shall we give Mr. Potter the time and restraint he desires?"

Six hands went up in the negative and six in the affirmative. Van Devanter looked around, nodding and then rapped his wand against the table.

"The Chair voting in the affirmative, the aye's have it," He announced.

"Thank you," Harry said, placid again.

"Be warned," Van Devanter said quietly as the room began to disperse. "My ability to control this situation is not unlimited. Nor can I guarantee that the scope of the war will be purely defensive should the battle be joined. I believe that you are here in good faith, know that I am as well, but that no amount of good faith can stop some things when once set in motion."

"I will keep that in mind," Harry said evenly.

"Now then, I believe the First Expeditionary survivors have all arrived," Van Devanter said. "Your treatments were considerable, but I suppose those remedies will be crude compared to the medical potential of the Stone."

"Its properties are amazing," Harry agreed.

"Perhaps you would consider making a supply of the Elixir available to us," Van Devanter continued. "We would of course be happy to pay a reasonable sum."

"I'm not sure that would be wise Chairman," Harry said politely. "I'm sure you can appreciate the potential for harm that could come from such a powerful potion."

"Of course," Van Devanter said. "Perhaps some kind of monitoring scheme could be devised to satisfy you that your Elixir was being used properly?"

"Possibly," Harry replied, noncommittal. "Such a discussion should probably best be renewed after the present crisis has passed, don't you think?"

"I'm under no illusions here," Van Devanter said. "That Elixir could be of great benefit to us in healing the wounded."

"I have promised to heal those who aided us at Hogwarts," Harry said. "They may need follow up treatments once I leave, say five hundred doses?"

"That is most generous of you," Van Devanter said.

Inwardly Harry was roiling with disgust at the dance of diplomacy. Van Devanter had finally been satisfied without any explicit concessions on his part. None too soon either, for at that point they arrived in what appeared to be a small medical ward attached magically to the building.

"Harry, Ronald, its good to see you again," Mia Valian said as she rushed to shake his hand. Valian had been the commander of the American forces at the final battle and had herself been rather grievously injured.

"It's good to see you too," Harry replied as Ron chimed in his pleasure as well. Honestly, Ron was probably more qualified as a comrade than Harry since he had actually fought with her while Harry had merely shown up and launched into Voldemort.

"So, I hear you've got a better fix than this ole' leg," Mia said cheerfully.

"How would you like your original leg back?" Harry asked, grinning.

"You bet," Mia replied. "Not that this one isn't great too, but nothing is quite like the original, right?"

"Chairman, the process is pretty simple," Ron said as Harry conjured up a wash basin in preparation for the healing. "I think your mediwizards will be able to use the Elixir to heal the remaining patients after watching Harry complete the process here."

"That's right, there's not much to it," Harry said as he used the stone to generate a sufficient quantity of the Elixir. "The Elixir will do all the work."

"Okay, I'm ready," Mia said, gritting her teeth in anticipation of the searing pain that accompanies the addition or subtraction of a magical limb.

Harry winced slightly in sympathy as his patient cried out slightly when he banished the sliver attachment, but the pain was short lived. Mia hurriedly jammed the stump of her leg down into the Elixir and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here, drink this, it will accelerate the healing," Harry said. Mia drank down some of the Elixir that he offered to her. The combined effects of the substance working from within and without stimulated the genetic memory of her cells to rapidly regenerate her lost tissue.

"Amazing," Mia said a few minutes later when she pulled a snow white lower leg and foot out of the Elixir. "It feels like I never even lost it."

"I know," Harry said. Her eyes looked to him sharply and Harry flexed his left arm. "Dementors cursed it. It was still there, but it might as well not have been."

"You're certainly an interesting young man Harry," Van Devanter said, stepping in and shaking hands with everyone again. "Thank you for this, but I believe our medics can take things from here."

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," Ron said. "It would probably be best if we were returning to England immediately.

"The best of luck to you," Van Devanter said. "Our respective nation's are depending on your efforts."

"If you need to contact us you know how," Ron said, referring to the lines of communication that Remus had previous established.

"Drop the wards," VanDevater ordered. A few seconds later Harry and Ron shimmered away silently.

"Sir, what kind of power was that?" Longstreet asked, emerging from the hall as soon as they were gone. Harry had displayed a dreadfully ominous depth of ability and he had a suspicion that he had been hiding much more.

"The Stone is a mysterious thing," Van Devanter said. "In the hands of the Chosen One, who knows what it's capable of?"

"I didn't believe in that fairy tale," Longstreet said with a snort.

"What about now?" Van Devanter asked.

"Prophecies are Old World gibberish," Longstreet replied. "But the boy has talent, I'll admit that."

Hundreds of miles away Madam Bones appeared noiselessly at a small crypt on the outskirts of London that belonged to a magical family. She had received a summons from the Minister, though she couldn't imagine why he would want to meet in such a place. Not that meetings in bizarre places was unheard of, but she could think of nothing that he would want to speak to her about at this point seeing as how his administration functioned entirely without her approval.

Madam Bones tightened her grip on her wand and began laying down spell traps when she noticed that the shadows didn't quite look right. For a moment she considered apparating away, but she decided that if it was an ambush her attackers would have wards up and as such they might detect the pressure of her resistance against their spells and realize she was on to them.

"Greetings Madam," a sly voice called out. Madam Bones turned slightly to watch the slow graceful approach of a young gentleman.

"Who are you and what are you doing in this place?" Madam Bones asked warily.

"Me? I'm just an idle gentleman farmer out for a walk," the man replied.

"This is neither a safe place nor a safe hour," Madam Bones replied kindly. She smiled at the man approached her. Suddenly there was a flash as a dozen wooden spikes impaled the man's torso.

"He said that this approach wouldn't work," the man said. He burst into a cloud of darkness that swirled about only to reform within arm's reach of Madam Bones.

"What kind of monster are you?" Madam Bones asked. The hand that was reaching to grasp her was withdrawn as an icy cylinder of air drove the vampire back.

"A new age has dawned," the vampire said as his arm burst into dark mist and then reformed unharmed. "We will no longer live in the shadows."

"If you think wizard kind will ever allow you to run free as you once did you're delusional," Madam Bones said tersely. She cast a cone of fire out toward the vampire and was shocked when he parted the spell by rapidly drawing his sword. The arcane device sparked and glowed with corporeal lightening.

"We have become powerful," the vampire said smugly. "Your heel no longer carries enough weight to press us into the ground."

Madam Bones stood her ground as the vampire charged at her, parrying the slash of his sword with her wand and then grabbing him by the throat with a bare hand. Undead flesh sizzled under Madam Bones' enchanted touch and suddenly there was nothing left of the creature except ash.

Before Madam Bones could take stock of her position she felt pain lance through her neck. She screamed out in pain as three more vampires emerged to join the one that had managed to sneak up behind her and start sucking her blood.

"Do not struggle," the shortest vampire intoned. "You will enjoy the power and immortality that comes from being a vampire."

Madam Bones tried to apparate and found herself blocked. Desperately she activated a hidden portkey and much to the dismay of her attackers managed to vanish away at the last second as she cursed her own foolishness.

* * *

AN: It just seems like yesterday that I finished school, but somehow I'm already hunkering down in a 60 hour per week job. Sadly, that means my updates will continue at their snail's pace. On the bright side, no homework, so at least I can type during the late night instead of cram down tomorrow's reading assignment.


	11. Chapter 11 – Madam Bones Malady

Chapter 11 - Madam Bones' Malady

"Don't you two need to rest?" Molly asked, her voice laced with concern as Harry and Hermione prepared to leave for Hogwarts.

"The Elixir can sustain us in place of sleep," Hermione replied. Harry and Ron had returned from America barely an hour prior bearing he grim news of the current situation. With things as they stood it was likely that they would have desperate need of wands in the coming days.

"Don't worry," Harry said reassuringly. "We'll all sleep better when we've got wands again. If the Ministry makes its move we're going to need the ability to cast the Unforgivable curses again."

"Luna and I will finish seeing that the rest of the werewolf muggles are equipped with the new weapons," Ron said.

Harry and Hermione nodded before shimmering away in silent apparation. An instant later they appeared at a location near Hogwarts where they immediately transformed into their bird shapes.

"_Things are starting to look normal again_," Harry marveled as Hogsmeade came into view. The once burned out wreck of a town was showing noticeable reconstruction and restoration such that it would soon be back much as it was before the war. Of course, it remained to be seen if it would have a large audience of school children from Hogwarts to fuel its economy.

From there the familiar outline of Hogwarts soon came into focus. The castle still bore the scars of the final battle as certain sections of it had been too damaged or cursed for restoration by mundane magical means. Despite this, there were visible reductions in damage as the structure seemed to be slowly repairing itself.

"_Vampires and aurors_," Hermione observed as they flew over the castle walls at a high altitude and began to slowly circle in an unobtrusive descent toward the roosting tower used by the school's delivery owls. They perched on an entry window for a moment as they took in their surroundings to make sure that there were no watchers nearby. A bright red light shone brightly from around the necks of their bird forms as they began to access their magic.

"_They may be using some of our eyepieces,_" Harry said as they transformed. "_We'll need to increase the power of our invisibility charms as much as possible_."

Hermione nodded and together they summoned as much power as their stones could produce to cloak themselves in a thin coat of invisibility. As the spell finished a shiver ran through their bones and a distant unearthly cry wafted in. They had heard that noise before.

"_Those creatures, they're here,_" Hermione exclaimed. Once might have been coincidence, but twice left little doubt. The creatures were drawn to them whenever they used the power of the stone.

"_We've got to hurry,_" Harry said grimly. The sense of inner strength that the stone bestowed seemed to drain away with the reality that there were things in this world that the stone's powers could not touch and those things were coming to kill them.

Despite the increased risk of detection they moved as quickly as possible down the halls toward the entrance that led to the Chamber of Secrets. Fortunately with no children and only a few complacent guards they were able to make it without creating any disruption. The hole that had been blown into the floor was still there, though it didn't seem to be as big as before. Apparently the castle's self repairs still had a ways to go, but that was good for Harry and Hermione at this point.

"Drop your spell," Hermione said anxiously as they dropped through the hole into the catacomb of piping below. "Maybe that will throw the creatures off our scent if we refrain from using anymore magic."

"I wouldn't count on it," Harry replied as an echoing cry reverberated through the pipes' narrow confines.

"Did they come in through the lake?" Hermione asked as they ran toward the Chamber.

"Who knows," Harry replied. "Are we even sure they can't walk through walls?"

The dementors had been vague about the extent of the creature's abilities, but such a notion wasn't outside the realm of possibility. As they approached the door to the Chamber they immediately noticed the prominent scars on the thick covering that were the result of intense spell fire and probably dark curses. The Ministry had evidently attempted to gain access to the Chamber and failed. Harry hissed a command and the door began to open for them.

"They're coming," Hermione said. They chafed at the delay as the door swung open slowly. Just as it had opened enough for them to pass through it a bestial roar sounded within the very same chamber that they were in. The creature or creatures were in their entirely invisible state though, since they were unable to spot them.

"There, that is the stone where their bodies are," Harry said.

"We'll have to use magic," Hermione said. The stone covering was much too heavy for them to remove by hand.

Harry's stone glowed red as he gathered magical energy and instantly he was beset by three of the mysterious monsters. He leapt to the side as claws slashed great gashes in the ground where he had stood moments before. Stone shrapnel and debris flew through the air as powerful limbs shredded the floor with frightening ease.

"Hurry Hermione," he yelled as he waved his hand and lifted the stone to reveal Voldemort's corpse. Hermione spotted the two wands lying where they had left them and snatched them up.

"Harry, catch," she shouted back as she tossed Voldemort's old wand toward him. Harry spun gracefully, his stone glowing brightly, to evade the frantic assault as the wand settled into his outstretched hand.

"Avada Kedavra," Harry yelled. A flash of deadly green light impacted against the nearest beast causing it to slump over dead without a sound. The remaining creatures screamed and disappeared in an attempt to retreat.

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione echoed, her spell bursting in a flash of green flame as it missed the retreating beasts as they slipped back through the entrance to the chamber.

"I wonder how many aurors are running down here after this?" Harry asked as he caught his breath.

"Hopefully none," Hermione said as she toyed with her new wand experimentally. She gestured toward the makeshift grave where Voldemort and Bellatrix had been laid to rest. "We've got one more thing to deal with before we can leave."

Harry joined her side and looked down on the desiccated remains of Bellatrix and the still very alive looking Voldemort. While the witch had decayed much more rapidly than it would seem naturally possible Voldemort's twisted form still looked exactly as it had when they had sealed him away.

"How many lives did he consume?" Harry asked softly.

"Too many," Hermione replied. "Let's end this shell while we can."

Together they kneeled down, their hands glowing, as they prepared to alchemize Voldemort's body into its base components. Harry flinched slightly, as did Hermione, at having to touch the foul carcass before them, but in order to degenerate such a tenacious spell ridden body they estimated that it was necessary. The glow around their hands built for an instant before there was a flash as the magical energies they were using reacted with the left over spells in Voldemort's form. As the light pulsed over the body flesh and bone were reduced to their elemental components and then there was nothing left of Voldemort except a residue indistinguishable from the rest of the surroundings.

"What about Bellatrix?" Harry asked.

"She was nothing special," Hermione sniffed. With a wave of her hand Bellatrix's remains burst into intense flame and then just as quickly flaked away to ash.

"Then let's get out of here," Harry said. He waved his hand and replaced the stone as they donned their invisibility charm and began walking back to the door.

Once on the outside they replaced the wards that had helped guard the Chamber just in case there was some unknown danger still lurking within the old secret room. With their powers it was a small feat to retrace their steps back up to the bathroom where the entrance to the lower level leading to the Chamber was located.

"_Someone's coming_," Hermione said as they made their way back into the hall. Instantly they froze, wands drawn, despite their invisibility charm since they were still not invulnerable to detection.

"_Snape,_" Harry said, his anger rising swiftly. "_That bloody traitor._"

"_Let's follow him, I want some answers,_" Hermione said, all thoughts of leaving gone.

They fell in line behind him and proceeded to follow him all the way down to his dungeon lab without disturbing anything enough to give themselves away. They had to move quickly to duck through the door before he closed it, but they seemed to make it without his knowledge.

"Professor Snape," Harry said sternly as he and Hermione shimmered back into view. Snape whirled around, his eyes going wide at their unexpected appearance. "To think I actually began to like and trust you."

"Talk," Hermione snapped. She gestured threateningly with her wand. "How dare you betray your friends like that?"

For an instant Snape's eyes betrayed actual pain, but the look passed quickly and his eyes resumed their old hard defiant look.

"I'm not the traitor here, I never was," Snape replied. "I was one of the few real loyalists to wizard kind during this whole long misbegotten affair."

"By wizard kind you mean purebloods," Harry said darkly.

"I don't expect two muggle born to understand the struggle against the destruction of our ancient heritage," Snape said stiffly.

"That sounds a lot like Voldemort…" Hermione began.

"Voldemort was scum," Snape exploded. "He was a half blood, a power mad monster that altered his own body. What kind of pureblood would tamper with the perfection of their heritage?"

"Then all this time, you were just double crossing both sides," Hermione said, saying aloud what McGonagall had already indicated to them based on her brief experience when Snape first showed his true colors.

"Not at first, if you must know the truth," Snape said. "At first the Death Eaters were quite secretive and I joined because of a recommendation from another member. We all thought that we were a society of purebloods, for purebloods, but we soon discovered otherwise when the Dark Lord revealed himself. By then it was too late and the more power hungry purebloods didn't care that their leader was himself a worthless mudblood. I sought out the Ministry and began working as an agent for the Minster. Who knew that I would one day be able to help maneuver the enemies of the purebloods into self annihilation."

"The only one's who will be annihilated is you and your Ministry," Hermione growled. Her wand began to gather energy.

"Is it murder now?" Snape asked mockingly.

"I'm sorry Snape," Harry said, his wand coming up too. "But you're too dangerous to let live."

There was a bright flash and a burst of smoke as two beams of green energy crossed at the place where Snape had stood a moment before. A shrill alarm began to ring throughout the castle as Snape somehow managed to flee the room. Harry and Hermione used the acceleration charm to rapidly get out of the smoke and back out into the hallway, but there was no trace of the wily potions professor left to be found.

"Forget him," Hermione said. The sound of pounding boots heralded the advance of the Ministry's contingent of aurors and hit wizards. Two blue robes and at least two dozen red robes could be seen rounding the corner, undoubtedly thanks to Snape's escape informing the security response.

"It's the Potters," Surocco said. Harry recognized him from their time in Ministry captivity.

"Pour it on them," the other hit wizard, a man recognized as Tom Turner, yelled to the aurors under his command.

Harry gestured with his wand and several thick stones appeared to take the slew of killing curses that leapt across the hall toward them. A couple of the curses got through, but those were swallowed up by the powerful aura of life that the Philosopher's Stone put off.

"_Don't rely on the stone_," Hermione said through their link. "_It can't stop a curse like that except in a very small area. You almost have to get directly hit…_"

"_So I see_," Harry replied as he dodged the next curse outright.

Hermione's stone glowed, but the long spiraling bands of flame were cast from the end of her new wand. The spirals grew in size and intensity as they radiated away from her to the point that the wizards on the receiving end were inundated by a veritable sea of flame. The aurors were terrified, but the two hit wizards charged forward grimly to meet the onslaught.

Harry winced when he noticed the hit wizards activating Light Bearer armor on their left arms as they crossed their wands and braced themselves for the impact of Hermione's spell. The thick fire arrived an instant later, but instead of burning through the defenders it was halted in a swirling mass just a few inches away from the hit wizards where it was held by some invisible spell they were casting. After Hermione's ineffective attack had been gathered for a moment Harry could feel their opponents strengthening and shaping the fire. With a hiss the flame recoiled back toward Harry and Hermione, but now it looked even more intimidating.

"Watch out," Harry yelled. He drew his arm back over his head so that his wand was positioned right next to his ear and pointing toward the oncoming inferno. A few wisps of air began to gather around his wand that quickly turned into a phenomenon resembling a small tornado swirling around his arm with the tip coextensive with his wand. He waited until the last moment before the firewall approached before thrusting his wand forward savagely into the blaze.

There was a flash of light and a sharp concussive wave of energy as the tornado destroyed itself on the firewall. The fire lost its cohesiveness and blew apart into a raging sea of flame that washed back over the entire hallway. Every surface was ablaze and even the air seemed to burn as thousands of embers filled the atmosphere.

Two dark shapes burst out of the fire and moved with unnatural speed toward Harry and Hermione. Harry caught the movement and used a counter spell to negate the acceleration charm of the hit wizard that was homing in on him. He caught the metal coated fist of the hit wizard on a corporeal shield he conjured just as he realized Hermione hadn't been quick enough. The other hit wizard had punched her square in the torso with enough force to send her crashing back into the stone wall where she immediately began to smolder from the heat of that surface.

"_They're using my tactics,_" Hermione said as she got back to her feet while healing rapidly under the influence of the Elixir. Sure enough, the hit wizards were using their stolen Light Bearer armor to great effect by closing in and physically striking out.

Harry's stone glowed brightly as he caught a magically enhanced punch with his left hand and swiveled around to fling the offending hit wizard back toward where the aurors had last been seen before the firestorm obscured everything.

"_I think we'd better make a break for it,_" Harry said. They had been on the clock from the instant the alert had gone up. In this place they were not prepared to chance a meeting with the unexpectedly powerful sorcerers.

Hermione nodded and gathered a large bubble of magical air that she released all at once to sweep a path through the flame for them to make their escape. Harry unleashed a torrent of cutting spells as they whisked past under the influence of the acceleration charm and heard one of the still hidden aurors cry out, injured or dead.

In the confusion they were able to make it back to the first floor and out onto Hogwarts' main grounds where their animagus transformations allowed them to blend into the environment as they put distance between themselves and any would be pursuers.

"That," Hermione proclaimed after they had transformed back. "Was ridiculous..."

"Agreed," Harry said. They were somewhere just beyond the forbidden forest. "They knew all about our magic. The Ministry's sorcerers must be giving them advice on how to counter our abilities."

"Or we just aren't using them right yet," Hermione huffed. The Philosopher Stone was supposed to be the ultimate weapon. Flamel had unleashed devastating amounts of magical energies with it and he hadn't even used a specimen as perfected as their own.

"It may be that our bodies haven't fully adjusted yet," Harry said. He smiled softly as Hermione moved over close to him and let him wrap an arm around her. "I've noticed that the longer I keep drinking the Elixir the more effective the stone seems to become."

"We should probably start drinking it every day," Hermione said. "We can't afford to have any weaknesses the next time we have to fight those continental sorcerers."

"What about the life extension problem," Harry asked.

"That won't matter for a while," Hermione said. She wasn't eager to tinker with the natural order either, at least not toward the direction of full fledged immortality.

"Are you ready to go?" Harry asked after another minute had ticked past.

"No," Hermione said, "But we'd better anyway."

The scenery changed abruptly from forest to an out of the way space in Riddle Manor. Immediately they could hear noisy discussion and hurried movement coming from a nearby room.

"Thank goodness you guys are back," Ron said as soon as they walked in. Luna, McGonagall, Remus, Tonks, and several others were sitting around a table that was littered with several bottles.

"Not long after you left we received word that Madam Bones has been admitted to St. Mungos," McGonagall said. "We don't know what's wrong with her except that the nurse who reported to us didn't expect her to live."

"What?" Harry said with alarm. "Ron and I just talked to her."

"I know," McGonagall said. "That's why you and Hermione need to save her quickly, before it's too late."

"Agreed," Hermione said quickly. "However, it might look a little suspicious if we just burst in and recover her."

"That's why we've scrounged up all of these," Tonks said indicating the bottles on the table. "We're going to alter your appearances. You've still got that book I gave you for your birthday a couple years ago, right Harry?"

"Um, yeah," Harry said. "Dobby, you remember the one don't you?"

"Yes Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said quickly as he popped into the room. "One moment sir, Dobby will be fetching it."

"We've even got mediwitch uniforms," Molly said. "Though, they were blessed hard to get at such late notice without getting anyone's suspicions up. Just be glad that St. Mungo's doesn't change styles very often, now hurry up and change."

"Can't we just conjure the uniforms?" Harry asked.

"St. Mungo's uses specially made clothing that can't be vanished or switched," Hermione said as Molly practically shoved them into a side room. Harry knew that such clothing existed or else there would be no need for the various tailor shops.

"Why would they bother with such a thing?" he asked as he stripped off his old clothing. He stole a glance at Hermione as she did the same, but knew that they didn't have any time to spare with a life hanging in the balance.

"Resistant to spells, easy to clean, the usual," Hermione said, shrugging as she, like Harry, tried to keep her mind focused on the issue at hand.

"I feel a little silly in this," Harry said. The uniform was a lime green robe that he thought suspiciously resembled a muggle nun's outfit.

"I know what you mean," Hermione said.

"Okay, let's get you two altered," Tonks said as they stepped back into the main room.

"Wouldn't it be better for us to go as something other than healers?" Harry asked. Tonks applied a few drops of something after consulting with the book Dobby had brought and immediately his face began to distort.

"St. Mungo's holds a virtual monopoly on magical medicine in England," McGonagall explained. "So even though you'll be going as Madam Bones' private healers you still have to wear the St. Mungo's uniform."

"I mean, couldn't we go as relatives or something?" Harry asked.

"Relatives wouldn't have the authorization to remove her from healer care," Tonks said. "Besides, Madam Bones doesn't have a lot of relatives and the one's she does have are well known to most people so I doubt you'd be able to pull it off."

"_This is uncomfortable to say the least_," Hermione said through their bond as her hair shortened, straightened, and turned light blonde.

"_We look like bloody Malfoy_," Harry replied as he looked into a conjured mirror. His hair was the same as Hermione's, though somewhat shorter still, and both their eyes were the same shade of icy blue.

"Now, here are documents," McGonagall said. "I conjured these, so they won't hold up to much scrutiny."

"Just so you know we had a hard time making the alterations," Tonks added as they prepared to leave.

"Probably because of the stone and the changes it's made to us," Hermione said. "The Elixir is trying to "heal" the changes because they're foreign to our bodies."

"Hm, yes, that sounds plausible," Tonks said. "More importantly, don't do a lot of magic. Use of magic makes the changes disappear faster so if you have to do any big spells then they'll probably disappear."

"All right, all right," Harry said. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"Just that you shouldn't expect any help when you get there," McGonagall said. "Our source is an old friend of mine, but she won't do anything beyond what she's already done and as you are well aware St. Mungo's is heavily patrolled by the Ministry these days."

"Lovely," Hermione said as she shimmered away alongside Harry to their destination in London.

"_Is it just me, or are we always in a hurry?_" Harry asked as they made their way down the street toward the derelict department store named Purge and Dowse Ltd. that was in fact a magical entrance to the hospital.

"_I'd say_," Hermione replied. Harry could tell that this entire operation was being done with too little information and too much speed to suit her logical deliberate mind.

As soon as they stepped through the window they found themselves inside the familiar lobby of St. Mungo's. Harry eyed the information sign as he followed Hermione to the front desk. Five floors, each divided amongst the various types of injuries that a wizard might suffer from magic spells and creatures.

"How may I help you?" the Welcome Witch asked.

"We're here to attend to Amelia Bones," Hermione responded. She held out her credentials along with Harry's.

"Fourth floor, spell damage," the Welcome Witch replied, barely glancing at their papers.

"_This place is a lot creepier than I remember_," Harry commented as they made their way toward the fourth floor. There were red cloaked aurors at regular intervals and even more ominously they passed a pair of blue cloaked hit wizards that seemed to be overseeing the facility. Harry felt his teeth grind a little when he recognized the two hit wizards as Mosely Motts and Cohen Roth. They had been there during the torture of himself and Hermione.

"_The Ministry must be stationing hit wizards at all vital locations,_" Hermione said, stating the obvious.

Harry didn't reply, but he could feel the submerged anger radiating off of Hermione.

"_Here it is, spell damage,_" Harry said as they stepped onto the fourth floor. "_Where is Madam Bones' room located?_"

"_410, end of the hall_," Hermione replied. "_But that's not all Harry. Kingsley Shacklebolt is here too!_"

"_Shacklebolt?_" Harry echoed. "_What about him?_"

"_There's more going on here than we know, despite what you learned in the Americas_," Hermione said. "_After what Palsgraf said during our trial I want to talk to Shacklebolt and find out if he's a dupe or a traitor_."

Harry paused. This was going to complicate their already improvised plan. Still, Hermione had a point. Shacklebolt had been a part of Dumbledore's circle for the time when the Order of the Phoenix had been resurrected and he might know something that they would find useful. At the very least he wanted to know why it appeared as if Shacklebolt had given false and incriminating information to Fudge for use in the "trial" against himself and Hermione.

"_Okay,_" Harry said finally. "_We'll see to Madam Bones first and then pick up Shacklebolt on our way out._"

As they resumed their progression down the hall Harry expected to see Ministry security watching over a member of the Wizengamot, but when they entered the room Madam Bones had been assigned to all they found was four bare walls.

"Are they even treating her?" Hermione said aloud.

"I don't think so," Harry said, appalled at the scene before them. Madam Bones was writhing weakly on the hard mattress of the hospital bed, her skin a deathly pale grey, and her breathing so weak that it appeared as if she were barely alive.

"Here, hold her while I get this down her," Hermione said briskly. Harry would normally have cast magical restraints, but he didn't want to wear down his disguise so he grabbed her arms and tried to keep her steady. Hermione still had a difficult time forcing the Elixir down her throat, but eventually she was able to. The effect was almost immediate. Madam Bones' skin began to regain its healthy color and her thrashing stilled.

"Give her some more," Harry said. They needed her to be awake, if possible, so that they would have a better basis for removing her from St. Mungo's without raising suspicions.

"I think its working," Hermione said. She wished that she could cast a healing charm to help the Elixir work, but such an expenditure of magic might cause their whole scheme to come crashing down.

Madam Bones began to sputter and thrash around again as she was forcefully fed more of the Elixir. Suddenly her eyes flared open and she started to take in her surroundings with some degree of alarm.

"Where am I?" she asked weakly. "What happened?"

"We were hoping that you could tell us that," Harry replied comfortingly. "Hermione and I were away on some business and when we returned we were informed that you had been stuck down mysteriously."

"It was that snake Fudge," Madam Bones snarled, her memories flooding back. She seemed taken aback at their appearance for a moment, but Harry's use of Hermione's name combined with the stone he was holding appeared to convince her of who they were.

"Fudge did this to you?" Hermione asked as the elderly lady struggled to sit up.

"He might as well have," Madam Bones replied. "It was vampires. They bit me, tried to turn me."

"Oh no," Hermione said, recoiling back slightly.

"What's wrong child?" Madam Bones said, alarmed. "I'm alive aren't I? They didn't have enough time, I'm fine."

"You were nearly dead when we arrived," Hermione said, her voice barely a whisper. "We used the Elixir of Life to restore you."

"T-Then, I was, I was going to die?" Madam Bones asked. She began to sob slightly, her body going limp. "I've been _turned_."

"Don't worry," Harry said reassuringly. "We're going to get you out of here and…"

"And _what_?" Madam Bones said forcefully. "I'll die and turn into one of those cursed monsters. I'll eat my own friends and family without a care in the world. I'll be gone, but my body will still be around slaughtering and…"

"Madam Bones," Hermione said quizzically. "As far as I know vampires still retain the memories they had when they were, as we know it, alive, and I don't see…"

Madam Bones' cold hand gripped Hermione's forearm tightly, almost to the point where her unexpectedly sharp nails gouged into her skin, causing her to flinch uncomfortably.

"Those things aren't mistreated elves," she said tersely. "The shell remains, but the soul is gone. Vampires are a wholly cursed existence animated by foul magic beyond our comprehension. They're the reason that the dark things of study are Unspeakable."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, interested.

"I don't know any more than that," Madam Bones replied, her hand withdrawing. "Wizard-kind has studied the vampire for hundreds of years, but their condition has never been explained or their bloodlust sated. In recent years we've managed to organize enough to keep them sequestered and mostly feeding on non-humans, but they're a constant plague threatening to break out."

"No wonder Fudge wants rid of them," Harry muttered. Now it was Madam Bones' turn to be puzzled.

"Fudge is trying to get rid of them?" she said, incredulous. "He's practically granted them equality."

"As fascinating as this is," Hermione interrupted. "I think perhaps we should get out of here first."

"Of course," Harry said quickly. "Can you stand?"

"I don't think so," Madam Bones replied.

"I think I saw a mobile chair in the hall," Harry said. He ducked outside and then returned a moment later with the implement. With Hermione's help Madam Bones was transferred into the chair.

"Where are we going?" Madam Bones asked softly when they missed their turn off.

"We've got one other quick stop before we go," Hermione replied.

The room that Shacklebolt was being held in was not much better or more secure than the one Madam Bones had been in, though it had slightly more equipment. The reason for his intensified care became obvious as the slight taint of charred flesh became apparent, even through the thick salves and bandages that Shacklebolt's limbs were encased in.

"At least he isn't awake," Harry said with relief. For all they knew Shacklebolt might raise an alarm at their suspicious appearance in his room.

"We're going to have to transfigure him though," Hermione said. They might get away with removing Madam Bones as long as she was there confirming their story, but there was practically no chance that their credentials wouldn't be scrutinized closely if they were trying to remove an unconscious auror too.

"What's an easy animal?" Harry asked.

"I'll do it," Hermione said. "My spells are probably still more efficient than yours. You don't mind holding a cat do you Madam Bones?"

"I suppose not," she replied.

"Then here goes," Hermione said. She withdrew her wand and uttered the spell words in an attempt to draw as little magical energy as possible. There was a second of hesitation, but then Shacklebolt's damaged frame shriveled up into an equally battered little cat.

"Okay, hold onto him," Harry said as he gently placed cat Shaklebolt into Madam Bones' weak grip. "Just in case he wakes up and goes crazy."

"Harry," Hermione said. Her hair was no longer blonde, but brown and bushy once more. "I think we have a slight problem here."

"Don't worry," Madam Bones said. "I can manage that, hand me your wand."

Hermione did as she requested and Madam Bones made a few graceful swishes, each of which resulted in Hermione's hair flattening and lightening itself until it greatly resembled the original disguise.

"I don't know how long that will last," she said as she offered Hermione her wand back.

"It should be enough," Harry said.

They had made their way back to the entrance hall as briskly as possible without raising suspicion when an extra vigilant auror decided that they were worthy of challenge anyway.

"These are my people," Madam Bones said disdainfully. "This dreadful place hasn't done anything to alleviate my condition and so I'm leaving."

"That is your right Madam," the auror said uncomfortably. She was, after all, still a seated member of the Wizengamot regardless of her current political influence and such a position demanded a certain amount of respect from a field auror on sentry duty. "However, this is highly unusual. At least let me delve for enchantments."

"For the sake of your job, auror," Madam Bone said dryly.

"_No, no, no,_" Hermione thought desperately. Shacklebolt was still sitting on Madam Bones' lap and the enchantments binding up his form might be revealed.

"Here, you, take my little Williams," Madam Bones said with the clipped tone of master addressing servant as she handed Shacklebolt to Harry. Hermione almost let out a sigh of relief as the auror began his work with the transfigured Shacklebolt well out of range in Harry's arms.

"You seem perfectly sound Madam," the auror said finally. He suddenly flushed red. "I mean…you're not enchanted. I hope you get better Madam."

"I know what you meant dear," Madam Bones said kindly and with that they were gone, back out onto the streets of London.

"Aren't we going somewhere else?" Madam Bones asked.

"As soon as we're out of sight," Hermione replied. There was a faint red glow around her neck as a four pronged portkey slowly materialized in her hand.

"Be sure Shacklebolt doesn't fall off," Harry said as each of them took hold of the oddly shaped device. Madam Bones helped stabilize the unconscious paw of Shacklebolt as the seconds ticked down to the portkey's activation.

A swirl of colors enveloped each of them as the familiar sensation of being drug along by one's midriff was felt. A few moments later they were deposited back in Riddle Manor surrounded by Light Bearers and other various individuals ranging from werewolves to Hogwarts' staff. Harry noticed that the werewolves, including Remus, were instantly wary of Madam Bones.

"Clear the way people," Hermione said briskly. "We need to get Madam Bones into our lab."

"There will be time enough for explanations later," Harry admonished hurriedly as they wheeled the elderly woman away from the portkey's arrival point past the small crowd that had gathered.

It was at that time that they passed through the entryway into the dining room. Harry's eye caught Hermione's and as one they turned, hands glowing, as the two mannequins posted on either side of the door stepped down from their place with shining swords held aloft. Harry and Hermione each caught the blades as they fell toward Madam Bones' exposed physique. Upon contact with their masters the mannequins paused a moment and then resumed their place on each side of the door with their beautiful white ceremonial robes not even ruffled.

"I almost forgot about those," Hermione said slyly as she and Harry moved on leaving their friends standing around flabbergasted.

"You see," Madam Bones said sadly. "Even your own guardian spells know what I am now."

"You're not dead yet," Harry said firmly. "And that means you're not anything except yourself."

"Harry's right," Hermione said before Madam Bones could protest. "Don't give up on us."

"I don't see what you expect to do," Madam Bones said. She eyed the many strange tools and vials of Voldemort's old lab with great suspicion. "None of these things will help me you know."

"We just needed a safe place out of the way," Hermione said. She waved her hand and levitated Madam Bones onto a conjured table.

"The only cure we can offer is this," Harry said. He held his Philosopher's Stone aloft and channeled magic through it. "But it is a substantial cure, don't you think."

"We already know the effect of the Elixir," Madam Bones said bitterly. "It can keep me alive, but it cannot undo what has been done."

"Well, but that's something isn't it?" Hermione said. "This will buy us some time to analyze what's happening to you."

"And in the mean time I take your medicine waiting for the inevitable day when I get caught out without a dose of it or get killed in some other manner your Elixir cannot prevent and then rise as one of those murderous creatures," Madam Bones retorted. "No thanks just kill me now."

"Dobby," Hermione yelled out, her eyes flashing with frustration at the woman's attitude.

"Yes Mistress?" Dobby said as he appeared instantly.

"I need a book," Hermione said. "It has no title, but it is made entirely of black obsidian stone with a great adder inscribed on the front. Do you think you can find it and bring it to me?"

"Yes, Dobby is finding it quickly," Dobby said as if scandalized at the implication that there might be any object in the entire house that he couldn't find instantly. He popped away again and then reappeared a few moments later with a book fitting Hermione's description that was nearly as big as the little elf himself.

"Thank you Dobby," Hermione said.

"Dobby is doing anything to help Harry Potter sir's 'Mione," Dobby replied eagerly.

"Will you be willing to accept our help and use the Elixir if we can guarantee that you won't become a vampire?" Hermione asked, turning again to Madam Bones.

"How do you propose to do that?" Madam Bones asked dubiously.

"In this book there is a powerful curse that wizards used to place on themselves to kill their murderers," Hermione said. "It stores dangerous elemental energy in an arcane seal and then releases it upon the death of the cursed individual."

"So when I die…" Madam Bones said.

"Your body will immolate violently," Hermione finished for her. "Nothing will be left."

"Please," Harry said when she appeared to remain uncertain. "Without you on the Wizengamot any transition from Fudge's regime will increase in difficultly dramatically."

"All right," Madam Bones said at last. She let out a weary sigh. "Do it."

"Harry, I'll need your help," Hermione said. She held the heavy book aloft easily with one hand as its thick stone pages turned magically. Together they began the incantations and immediately a red seal began to form in the air above the book. As they continued to chant the seal grew in size and complexity, each word adding a new detail to its form. When they reached the final word the book slammed shut and the seal flew down onto Madam Bones were it branded itself to her chest.

"Now," Hermione said, her stone glowing brightly, "Charge the seal."

"Right," Harry said, the details of the plan filtering into his mind from across his link with Hermione. His own stone glowed brightly too and together the young couple unleashed a searing torrent of flames straight at Madam Bones. Instead of being burnt instantly into fine ash the seal swallowed up the onslaught easily.

"All that," Madam Bones said, breathing heavily as she clutched her heart once they had finished. "All that will come back out if I die?"

"Yeah," Harry said. He felt a great swell of pity for the beaten old lady before them.

"Well, then I guess you'd best give me a supply of that Elixir and send me back," Madam Bones said briskly. She successfully sat up and put her feet on the floor gingerly to test her strength.

"Maybe you should rest a few days," Harry said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Madam Bones replied. "Fudge isn't expecting to see me again and I plan on giving that man the shock of his life. The quicker I get back into this the less chance for him to try and unseat me."

"Be careful," Hermione said. "Things are happening too fast right now."

"Don't worry about me girl," Madam Bones said dryly. "I've been at this since your parents were tikes and in this world the name Bones still means something."

"_Well, at least her spirits seem better,_" Harry said as soon as Madam Bones had portkeyed away back to her home.

"_I suppose_," Hermione replied. She gingerly licked her slightly puffy lips and looked over at Harry. "_We don't have time for this though. The Ministry is going to be coming for us and I intend to be ready._"

"The two of you wanted to see me?" Remus asked. Harry glanced over his shoulder to where his old friend had timidly intruded into the room.

"We need your help again Remus," Harry said.

"I don't know what I can do at this point," Remus said with slight dismay. He wanted to help his best friend's son in any way possible, but he had long ago decided that Harry was far too capable to truly need his help anymore.

"Its something that only you can do for us," Hermione replied. "We need you to build an army."


	12. Chapter 12 – Pyrrhic Victory

Chapter 12 - Pyrrhic Victory

"What is the status of your troops General?" Fudge demanded pompously. At long last the Treaty Force was in place and the consolidation of pureblood authority on the isle could begin in earnest.

"Twenty five wings stand at the ready Minister," General Tycus replied dutifully. "We will see England through this troubled time."

Fudge shifted in his chair as he contemplated the amount of force he had at his disposal. Of course, of those twenty five wings six were drawn from his own military forces, though the dragons were foreign supplied. Still, considering what they knew of the target they would have plenty of strength to prevail.

"Viscount Septimus, please escort the General out and see to the details of the battle order," Fudge said. "And Sense, please tell our other guest that he may enter now."

A shiver went through the collective assembly of Wizengamot members and Ministry officials who had gathered for the meeting as their ally Morbus moved fluidly into the room. The ancient vampire seemed even taller, darker, and more mysterious than he had ever appeared before to the few who had seen him previously.

"I trust that your agents are ready to deploy in support of the Treaty Force as it prepares to move in on the rebels?" Fudge asked. His dismissive attitude indicated that he already assumed the answer would be yes.

"We are not," Morbus replied solemnly. "A new problem has arisen."

"Need I remind you of all the things that we have done for your kind," Fudge said. His face turned slightly red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment for the assembled officials to witness any hitch in the plans he had so carefully laid out.

"Yet the cornerstone of our alliance lies in jeopardy," Morbus said. "According to our spies the Americans are massing together one of the largest armies they've ever assembled. Fully thirty wings of earth dragons and ten divisions of fire serpent riders have deployed along the New England coast in position to intercept any attempt by our people to migrate to our promised homeland."

Fudge's mind whirled with calculations at this new information. The attack on the rebel base would have to move forward as intended, but no longer could he devote his entire military force to do so. The Americans would have to be countered.

"Viscount Septimus and his sister will take five wings for the planned assault," Fudge said. "The rest will be held in reserve in case the Americans attack, but they will not deploy until after England has been cleansed of the scum sowing dissention from within."

"And just precisely where, Minister, is such an unprecedented assault force being asked to strike?" Madam Bones asked calmly as she strode into the chamber from the doorway where she had been observing the proceedings for several minutes. Originally she had planned to return immediately upon her "recovery," but after making contact with the few members of the Wizengamot who agreed with her she decided that it would be better to come back unexpectedly during Fudge's war council.

"Madam Bones!" Fudge exclaimed. He staggered to a partial standing position hurriedly and looked at her with a bewildered expression for a second before the politician's veneer returned his visage to placidity. Inwardly, however, he was seething. "We heard dreadful reports that you had been struck down. It was feared that the rebels had gotten to you."

"I was indeed struck down by _unknown assailants_," Madam Bones said as she approached her usual seat. Fudge's reaction had told her everything she had ever wanted to know and what few lingering doubts she had harbored about the situation were gone. "However, as you can see it was not a _mortal_ blow."

"Ah, yes, that is good news to be sure, and you can be sure that I'll devote the full resources of the Ministry to discovering the identity of your attackers," Fudge replied. The devious glint was back in his eyes with full force. "Now, as to your original question; we've come into a bit of information. It seems that the so called Light Bearers, or perhaps Potter himself, has been operating an immense structure on enchanted lands outside of our view for some time."

At his gesture Madam Bones looked toward a magical map that zoomed in on an illustration of a huge structure that, somewhere in her mind, seemed vaguely familiar. The keep, as such it could best be described as, consisted of a single tower that looked somewhat like it had an inverted candle holder stuck on it, at least to Madam Bones' thinking. Large stone platforms stretched out flat with the top of the tower in the four cardinal points, but they tapered off into the side of the structure before reaching the base of the tower.

"Thank you," Madam Bones murmured distractedly as what appeared to be a detailed report was handed to her by one of the Wizengamot's many clerks. She was almost certain that the target in question was one of Potter's main bases, but as strong as was her desire to warn him she also realized that such an action was out of the question. Of all the carefully screened and hand picked individuals in the room only her and her allies would possibly leak such information. Fudge was testing their loyalty, looking for a reason to bring charges of treason against her by allowing her access to sensitive information.

"So, what do you think of our little plan Madam Bones?" Fudge asked smoothly.

"I'm impressed Minister," Madam Bones said with a fake smile. "I can only imagine that the forces of justice will prevail."

She might even have been pleased at her double meaning had she felt any confidence in her words.

"I'm just glad that they seem to be holding up so well," Sarah Granger said softly to her husband Erwin as they sat across the room from their daughter and son-in-law who were currently enjoying their breakfast.

"You know I've always said its best to delight in the small things," Erwin replied. After decades of marriage he knew that daily life was no adventure or novel bit of fun. To him, true love delighted in the small things, in the common beliefs and interests that two people shared, and in merely enjoying each other's presence.

Hermione lifted a finger and channeled a bit of magic to do something that neither of her parents understood, except insofar as they noticed the spell put off some light for a second before dissipating. Harry laughed and then after a second she did too. Their mental communication often left others wondering just exactly what they were talking about, but few ever bothered to invade their privacy enough to ask.

"Remus, you look dreadful," Sarah blurted out as the middle aged werewolf entered the room unexpectedly.

"See, I told you so," a concerned looking Tonks echoed behind him.

"This is what I always look like," Remus retorted with mock irritability.

"Good morning," Harry said. He and Hermione had both looked up at the source of the early morning noise.

"I suppose for someone who actually had a night to sleep," Remus said as he sat down heavily at the end of the table. He grabbed a cup and poured some tea as everyone watched him expectantly.

"Dare I ask how it's going?" Hermione asked.

"It's finished," Remus said smugly. "Well, at least it's as finished as its going to get."

"I'm surprised," Harry said. "We only finished distributing the conjured weapons a couple days ago."

Now anyone who hadn't followed the conversation from the beginning was left with no doubt that they were referring to the "army" that Remus had been charged with developing due to his position of respect amongst the other werewolves.

"It was quite simple really," Remus said. "They had practiced regimental coordination during their time with the Death Eaters and so it was really just a matter of selecting officers. Of course, you do realize that they were trained to fight as werewolves, not as normal humans, so their effectiveness will probably be minimal."

"That's still good enough," Harry said. "Tell them to get ready to move at a moment's notice. When we need them to fight we may not know much in advance."

"Of course, I'm still curious as to why you even wanted me to do such a thing," Remus said.

"It's because the situation is so much worse than we had originally imagined," Harry said heavily.

"Even with the stones we're at best evenly matched with the Ministry's sorcerers," Hermione said. "And now we find out from the Americans that Fudge has brought in a large professional army from Europe; we have to be able to match them on their own terms as much as possible."

"Hopefully they'll never have to fight," Harry added. "But as things stand now…"

Remus nodded at this explanation. The war against Voldemort had revolved around a few individuals squaring off against each other as the opportunity arose. Voldemort didn't need an army because he didn't have any group of people to protect except those sympathizers who protected themselves by appearing to remain loyal to the government. If the Ministry had raised such an army against him he would merely have evaded it and continued his plans. While Harry and Hermione might similarly evade such a force they couldn't count on being able to keep all the vulnerable people under their protection safe should the Ministry attack. Now they had turned that group of largely vulnerable individuals into a group more capable of defending themselves.

"Harry Potter sir," Dobby said. The little elf had appeared abruptly with an eager expression that he always had when he had something to tell Harry that he believed would please him. "Shackly-bolt seems to be waking."

Shacklebolt's injuries had been severe, not only because of the immense physical damage done, but because the damage had been etched into his body with a powerful curse. Even the Elixir of Life had taken a long time to restore his limbs and from what anyone could tell the powerful healing substance was still working to dissolve the last ruminants of the curse.

"What happened?" Shacklebolt asked groggily as dobby led Harry and Hermione, amongst others, into his sickroom. "Why am I here?"

"We were hoping you could tell us what happened," Harry said gently. "As for why you're here…we figured that you'd recover better under our care than the Ministry's."

"My burns," Shacklebolt mumbled.

"That's right, they're gone," Hermione said. "How do you feel now?"

"Cool," Shacklebolt said. "Like I'm in a breeze for the first time on a hot summer day..."

"Here, drink this," Harry said, offering him a small dose of the Elixir. "The curse that bound the flame to your arm and legs is still dissolving."

"Amazing," Shacklebolt said as the healing substance washed through him. "You made this? What is it?"

"It's the Elixir of Life," Harry replied. Shacklebolt's eyes widened and for the first time settled on the great red jewels hanging from the necks of his benefactors.

"That raises more questions than I'll ever get answers for," Shacklebolt replied exhaustedly.

"A lot has happened that I doubt you're aware of," Hermione said. "But we need to know what happened to you."

"I don't know, it was so sudden," Shacklebolt said. He turned his head away.

"Please, it's important," Harry said.

"I was on routine patrol off the coast," Shacklebolt said after a long pause. "Another dragon rider attacked me, killed my dragon, and cursed me nearly to death. That's all there was to it."

"What did this 'other rider' look like?" Hermione asked.

"It was a young woman," Shacklebolt said, his head turning back to face Hermione squarely. "She was a fire user with bushy hair and incredible power. You know anyone like that?"

"Yes," Hermione said, pointedly ignoring his insinuation. "We do."

"It's as bad as we feared," Harry said. "Everything has been orchestrated."

"What's been orchestrated?" Shacklebolt asked. Harry and Hermione had already moved off to the side to discuss something beyond his hearing. He looked around, but everyone that had filtered into the room seemed to be more interested in discussing things in terse whispers than filling him in.

"Harry Potter and his Missus 'Mione were captured by the Ministry and put on trial," Dobby said, his eyes wide, as he dabbed at Shacklebolt's still slightly feverish brow. "Accused of awful dreadful things they were. Accused of attacking you, sir, they were… Terrible lies..."

"How do you know they didn't," Shacklebolt bit out.

"Dobby is knowing where Master and Missus are," Dobby said. "They was here, and they was not leaving at anytime to attack anyone."

"What do you know?" Shacklebolt retorted. "You're just a house elf, bound to their service."

"Dobby is a free elf," Dobby replied with a sniff. "Dobby can be saying anything he pleases and you know it."

"You're a blind elf," Shacklebolt said. "Whether they did the deed or not, they're capable of it."

"Dobby knows what his masters can do," Dobby said. "But can you be saying the same thing?"

Shacklebolt sank back into his pillow silently, but he didn't stop glaring at Dobby as the little elf continued to tend to him. He was glad that the Potters seemed to be too obsessed with their own discussion to question him further for the moment. After everything that had happened he didn't know what to think anymore.

"Captain," General Tycus yelled over the icy winds of the high altitude they were presently flying through. "These clouds are not natural."

"Yes sir, are you sure sir?" Captain Tigger yelled back, his voice raw.

"Quite sure Captain," Septimus said calmly. Somehow his magic carried his voice across the tormented and unnatural winds effortlessly. Captain Tigger eyed the Viscount uneasily and with slight annoyance at how he continually usurped the General's position.

"Captain, keep your wings together," General Tycus continued, ignoring the Viscount's interruption. "We're approaching the boundary of the enemy's wards. They'll be aware of us soon."

"Sir!" Tigger replied sharply. He raised his hand in predetermined gestures to the men directly under his authority. With satisfaction he noted how the riders above and below him closed the gaps until the dragons were flying nose to tail in perfect order.

General Tycus glanced to his left where the sorcerer siblings were working their magic against the black mist that shrouded the ground. Slowly but surely the skies were clearing in their favor. Already he could see a great black tower reaching up in the distance.

"Captain, let's see what's waiting for us," Tychus yelled. The captain gave the command and the front formations surged forward to the unhappy duty of springing whatever trap might be waiting.

"Ron, what's happening?" Remus asked as the two furry animals that ran up morphed into Ron and Luna. "Where are Harry and Hermione?"

"They're here," Luna replied while pointing up to where the two were flying in. Wards had stopped all incoming portkeys and apparation, but Harry had seemed confident that McGonagall and Tonks could bring down the portkey wards in time for everyone to escape.

"Do we know what we're in for?" Ron asked. "They did something to demolish Hermione's wards on the way in."

"No, but I have a feeling we're about to find out," Remus said as he pointed up at the swirling clouds as they melted away.

"I want all wizards on defense," Ron yelled.

"Remember the plan," Remus shouted. The mostly muggle werewolves looked determined and to their credit they remembered the training they had received when enslaved by Voldemort. Rank after rank of them marched by in tightly packed blocks. The wizards lifted their wands in anticipation of repelling whatever assault they would soon face whilst the muggles drew the conjured weapons that Harry and Hermione had patterned from the captured vampire weapons.

"Up there," someone yelled.

"Archers!" Remus yelled frantically. Dozens of dragons burst into view and as one heaved out great volumes of fire at the ranks of werewolves assembled below.

Wands prepared to counter, but the first barrage of flame was blown away long before it reached the ranks on the ground. From below everyone could see two dark figures, their cloaks adorned with bright golden sun symbols, standing atop the tower with red stars gleaming around their necks.

"Don't just stand there," Ron yelled, snapping everyone out of their inclination to be bystanders. "Attack!"

The werewolves carefully withdrew slightly glowing green arrows from their quivers and notched them in conjured bows. As one they raised them toward the sky and as one loosed a hail of bright green beams of death. The dragons reared up slightly as the shimmering mass of magic pelted them from beneath, but their thick dead scales took the damage of whatever strikes managed to land. Fire bubbled up around their gaping mouths for a counter attack.

"They're coming in low," Remus shouted out warningly. Another flight of dragons had descended to a height perilously close to the ground in an attempt to get their flame in under Harry and Hermione's protections. The wizards within the werewolves' ranks tried to reflect the plumes of white hot flame, but one of the attacks scorched through their ranks turning a dozen men into charred skeletons.

"Stand," Jack Ackart's voice rose up above the din as many scrambled to break ranks. "Stand and move forward!"

The column led by Ackart ran with calm determination to fill the gap created in their defensive line. His men stepped through the smoldering terrain that other groups scrambled to flee and prepared for their counter attack. Like old muggle armies of the line the first row knelt while two more rows leaned over them. In a matter of seconds Ackart had managed to get his men in position to fire horizontal shots at the incoming dragons. All three rows drew, aimed, and fired in concert so that a wall of green darts rushed up against the Ministry's fliers. The dragons weathered the storm, but their riders didn't fair so well. Dozens of mounted aurors fell away stiffly after having taken multiple killing curses from the bows of the werewolf defenders. Their directionless dragons plowed into the ground or spiraled away into the sky with rage at their flapping reins.

"Viscount," General Tycus said. He was most displeased with how the battle was progressing thus far. The whole sky was full of green flashes of light as the random shots from all over the field were punctuated by large coordinated masses of fire from the remaining coherent ranks.

"Patience General," Septimus said. His face had a look of great concentration to it. Suddenly two twisting beams of red energy lanced through the air from their originating point at the top of the black spire and gutted several dragons. "The Potters are down there in that accursed tower."

"That's your purview Viscount," Tycus said tartly. At his signal the dragon riders urged their mounts to greater and greater heights so that they were removed from the range of the conjured weapons being used against them. "I will not waste anymore of my force so long as they're left unchecked."

"Sense," Septimus said warningly. His sister had a tendency to get a bit…out of hand sometimes.

"I want Potter," Sense said, her voice rising excitedly. "You take care of the girl."

"General, send in your dragons to engage that tower," Septimus instructed.

"Don't be preposterous Viscount," Tycus retorted. "This may be your operation, but it is still my command. I won't send my men on a suicide run against…"

"Do it," Septimus snarled. He flung a hand out in rage toward one of the hovering dragons nearby. Electricity leapt across the void between him and his random victim with an ear shattering roar of thunder. Septimus' snarl turned to a grin as Tycus watched one of his subordinates dropping from the sky as a charred corpse. "It's suicide up here too."

"They're coming," Harry said. Hermione nodded. They could both feel the intense magical energies being gathered as the sorcerers prepared to attack.

"Middle Yard will help us some," Hermione said. They were standing on the flat top of the black tower. From its position overlooking the battlefield they had been able to shield their forces and lash out against the dragon army of the Ministry from relative safety.

Harry squinted as the swarm of tiny dots suspended high in the sky began to move as the dragon riders started to descend in preparation for another coordinated attack. He glanced over at Hermione and saw that her hands were glowing. It wasn't yet time for them to reveal everything they had learned about the Philosopher Stone since their last encounter with the sorcerers.

There was a chorus of gasps from far below as the sky was filled with hundreds of fireballs and bursts of lightening. The dragons focused their burning breath on the top of the tower, but the black stone seemed to warp and twist in such a way that most of the shots were absorbed against the walls. Hermione waved her hands to direct powerful levitation charms to deflect the dead and dying dragons away from the werewolves still assisting them from below.

"Hermione," Harry said sharply. Two large dragons had descended amidst the masses of other flyers. He could see the two sorcerers standing atop them.

"Wands," Hermione said. Their hands blurred in a rapid draw in an attempt to catch their lethal opponents off guard. In one voice Harry and Hermione called spoke the forbidden incantation of Avada Kedavra.

The Philosopher Stone was incapable of producing the killing curse in its own right, but when its power was combined with a wand the curse itself could be altered in a most unusual way. From Harry's wand burst dozens of thick bolts of green lightening that twisted around each other into a torrent of electricity as impervious to defenses as it was deadly. Hermione's modification created a plume of green flame, any particle of which would instantly burn away the life of whatever it touched.

Septimus and Sense recognized the danger immediately even if they didn't quite understand what was being done by their young enemies. Their hands raked invisible claws across the sky to gather together as many dragons and their riders as they could snare to absorb the blast of cursed magic for them. All eyes turned in horror to the charred lifeless corpses that fell from the sky still smoldering with green flame.

"_Harry_," Hermione said wordlessly through their link. Harry nodded as he conjured a great storm of wind and sent it twisting out toward the sorcerers. At the same time Hermione released fire that fed into Harry's attack so that their combined efforts created a swirling pillar of flame.

"Blast," General Tycus said vehemently. The brawl between the Potters and the Artemis siblings was disrupting the rest of the battle quite splendidly. The firestorm coming up from the tower was being dispersed into huge quantities of thick black smoke.

"General," a scout on a small black dragon had appeared. "Viscount Artemis demands that we release the first set of wards."

"I won't do that," Tycus replied indignantly. "The enemy can't be allowed to escape."

"The Viscount said to assure you that this would not happen," the scout said. "Amongst the enemy is a considerable number of muggles…"

"Very well," Tycus said. "I just hope those wizards are as loyal to their comrades as the Viscount thinks they are. Release the wards and give the instruction for Hutier tactics to commence at once."

Harry's stone glowed brightly as a shockwave of sorcery energy exploded against the tower with the force and sound of a thunderclap. All around them the dense black obsidian was beginning to grind down as they failed to block the bulk of the incoming waves of energy except that which seemed destined to impact the space around their physical forms.

The amount of debris in the air had long since thwarted any effort to see what was going on. Harry cast another large cornea shaped shield and projected it over himself and Hermione like a large umbrella. Hermione conjured waves of fire to clear the air and pinpoint the location of the sorcerers.

"_There they are,_" Harry said as the river of flame emanating out from the tower parted in two locations where the sorcerers shielded themselves from harm. Dozens of tiny tongues of flame darted out from Hermione's wand and converged on the dragons the sorcerers were riding. The great beasts turned away and climbed as their masters tried to keep the small projectiles from hitting. Several did anyway, but the beasts' thick scales offered some protection and so neither of the great fliers went down.

"_Another wave is coming in,_" Harry said. The dragons that had been held in reserve were tucking in their wings like predator birds to dive with great speed toward the ground. Harry pointed his wand at the sky and its cloudless void yielded up a dense hail of razor sharp ice that formed a barrier of destruction between the stooping dragons and the beleaguered fighters on the ground.

"Harry," Hermione yelled out with surprise. "Those dragons don't have riders on them anymore."

"What?" Harry asked. "Then that means-"

He was cut off mid sentence as he turned toward Hermione and saw the sorcerers apparate onto the tower just behind them, palms open in preparation for a spell. Harry winced as metallic spears threatened to impale himself and Hermione. He waved his hand and banished the majority of the spikes and Hermione intercepted others with searing fire.

Sense bared her teeth in something between a smile and a snarl as she rushed forward towards Harry. Septimus began casting spells in a deliberate fashion to drive Harry and Hermione apart. He calculated that individually Harry and Hermione would be easier to defeat.

Harry raised his palms and force-cast a spell that had the appearance of an intense pulse of light. Sense didn't flinch, but somehow seemed to instinctively defend herself. Harry's spells parted around her or annihilated themselves against an invisible barrier like rain shedding off of a piece of glass.

"Don't be so hasty boy," Sense said as she grabbed Harry's robe in her hand. "I want to have some fun."

"Harry," Hermione yelled. She felt her heart tighten painfully as she watched Sense swing Harry around bodily and bash him through the thick obsidian stone. The tower seemed to howl out silently with rage, but none of the combatants took notice. Hermione turned around and barely had time to defend herself before being driven back by the force of Septimus' assault. Septimus braced himself, his clothes whipping from the backlash of so much magic being thrown about, and cast another spell. Hermione staggered as the top of the tower disintegrated into chunks of falling rubble even though she had placed a cylindrical barrier shield around herself.

Harry lashed out with ghostly chains that wrapped themselves around Sense to immobilize her. With his free hand he touched the rubble that remained of the tower's upper floor and infused it with energy from the Philosopher's Stone. The jagged chunks of black rock melted away to form a shimmering pool into which Sense's struggling form began to sink.

"Sense," Septimus called out. He ceased his attack on Hermione and made a tiny apparation to the edge of the pool. Harry looked up anxiously at the new arrival. His wand was consumed with the task of maintaining the bindings on Sense and the rest of his energy was being channeled into his alterations to the stone's properties.

"Don't stop Harry," Hermione said as she mirrored Septimus' apparation and released a breaker spell at point blank range into her opponent's chest. "I'll handle him."

"Release me," Sense screamed. She had remained silent until the thin liquid stone begun to encroach on her neck. Her screams became increasingly hysterical and incoherent as Harry continued to push her lower until at last she was silenced as she slipped beneath the surface to leave only a ripple behind. Immediately Harry released his hand from the floor and the liquid glossed over like black ice, but with an intricate seal embedded into its surface.

Septimus reeled back as both Harry and Hermione apparated around the battlefield with stunning rapidity. He tried to retaliate, but soon was forced into a more defensive strategy by the volume of incoming spells. Suddenly he found himself between two sets of raised wands.

"Avada Kedavra," rang out from two different voices. At the same time a bright blinding light obscured everything and the top of the tower seemed to blow itself apart for the second time since the battle had begun.

There was a long moment and then the flash subsided to reveal Septimus sprawled on the floor with Harry and Hermione standing warily a few feet away.

"I'm surprised you took that spell," Harry said as the richly dressed Viscount rolled over and lurched back to his feet.

"I see the two of you have learned a little from our last encounter," Septimus said. "Or perhaps it's those accursed bits of wood."

"It's over," Hermione said. "Tell your army to surrender."

"It's far from over," Septimus replied, laughing slightly. He gestured to the floor where his sister was buried. "You've left her alone for much too long."

"What," Harry began only to be interrupted by Sense bursting through the floor violently. Her blonde wavy hair framed what could only be described as a look filled with murderous insanity. She reached into empty air with clawed hands.

"_It feels like I'm being ripped apart_," Hermione said, her mind tensed with pain. Harry recoiled too, his arm hanging at an odd angle. They both drank from their Philosopher Stones to accelerate their healing enough to keep pace with the damage Sense was inflicting.

"_It's like she's a different person than she was a moment ago,_" Harry said. "_Her power is greater than ever._"

"_Sorcerers draw their power from their emotions,_" Hermione said grimly. Sense had a lot of emotion.

"I told you not to be so hasty," Sense howled. Hermione conjured a shield, but it didn't prevent Sense's enhanced breaker spell from shattering everything around herself and Harry. Under the relentless pummeling the young couple found themselves down two floors into the heart of the tower through the hole Sense's magic had carved out. Some kind of charm hurled them into the nearest wall with enough force to break through it.

"_We can't take this much longer_," Harry gasped as they earned a brief respite. He couldn't believe it, but they were starting to run up against a hard limit in the Philosopher Stone's healing abilities.

"If you stop you'll die," Septimus said from behind them. He raised his hand and channeled power only to be sent flying along with Harry and Hermione from the force of another of Sense's attacks.

Harry saw Hermione and Septimus leap away out of the corner of his eye and followed suit. Sense raked the wall with some kind of spell and showered everyone with razor sharp shards of stone. Harry winced as he felt himself open up in several places from deep gashes that bled profusely until the Elixir closed the wounds back up. Harry noted anxiously that his wounds were healing slower each time now.

"Harry, your blood," Hermione said. Harry looked again and realized that there was something different about his blood. It was infused with the Elixir, altered, more conducive to magic. Almost like a twisted version of unicorn blood.

"_A regent_," Septimus thought to himself. Sorcerer's blood was indeed powerful in the hands of a wizard. He didn't know exactly what the Elixir induced sorcerer blood would do, but it was bound to be nasty.

Harry dipped the tips of his fingers into the sticky red residue and poured magic into it. The tips of his fingers glowed for an instant before the light reached out to Septimus and bound the two of them together with threads of energy.

"_It didn't work_," Harry thought. Even as the words appeared in his mind he doubled over with pain.

"Fool," Septimus said through gritted teeth as he twisted away from Hermione's wand tip. She had accelerated during the confusion of Harry's spell and tried to sunder the sorcerer's body with a powerful curse.

"_Harry?_" Hermione said as she leapt back out of range of Septimus' counter attack.

"_Somehow, I felt the blow,_" Harry said.

"Fools," Septimus said again. He looked around for his sister only to see her chuckling to herself as she watched the situation with wide eyed interest. "You shouldn't use your own blood so recklessly. Do you want to kill the whole world with your ignorance?"

"Destroy the world?" Harry asked. "Even with magic, such a thing isn't possible."

"I did not say destroy," Septimus replied tersely. "I said kill."

Without warning Harry was driven back by a flurry of spells from Sense. He batted most of them away, but the suddenness of it allowed a few to get through. The curses fought with the Elixir to damage Harry's body. Nearby Septimus howled with rage at his sister.

"S-Stop," Septimus said raggedly. His sister turned quizzically toward him as she felt his hand clamp down on her wrist. He coughed up a little blood and struggled to keep his legs from buckling.

"Sorry brother," Sense said. Her face still retained a look of crazed rage.

"Hermione, this is our chance," Harry said as an idea formed in his mind.

"That seems pretty risky," Hermione replied.

"We've already seen how much more durable the Elixir makes me," Harry insisted. "This is a free shot past his defenses and with him down we can handle the other one."

Hermione glanced over at the two sorcerers and realized that they wouldn't have long to implement this plan. She made a quick slashing motion with her wand that left a thin purple line across Harry's torso. The Elixir immediately went to work, but Septimus didn't fare so well. Hermione knew all too well from first hand experiences the effects of the curse she had used. It was remarkable that the sorcerer was still on his feet.

"You just wait here brother," Sense said, her expression becoming increasingly angrier. Harry and Hermione watched her hands for signs of her next attack. As a result they were caught completely off guard by the breaking of the ground and the manipulation of the stone into thin spikes that drove up threatening to impale them.

"Her foot," Harry said.

"That's right," Septimus called out, laughing, as Sense launched herself at the young couple. "A true sorcerer uses their whole body as a weapon."

With an unintelligible shriek Sense surged forward with a series of tiny apparations designed to throw off her opponent's ability to track her location. As her rage built so too did her power until the oppressive weight of her magic cast a pale of absolute terror across the battlefield that affected friends and foes alike.

"_Emotion is the key_," Harry repeated as he saw the kind of power that Sense's rage was allowing her to generate. Hermione looked him in the eyes and saw the conflict within him. He had now been training himself since the end of their fifth year to control his emotions. Emotions were dangerous to a wizard should they get too far out of control, both as a user of magic and as a person. But they were sorcerers now.

"_I won't let Hermione die!_" Harry thought as he flung his hands out to stop the onrushing bursts of green tinted magic that Sense was conjuring.

"_I won't let Harry die!_" Hermione thought at the same time as she added her force to Harry's. She gritted her teeth as a tangle of emotions coursed through her unchecked and encouraged.

The stones around their necks glowed brightly as the three sorcerers began to exchange blows. Dull concussions shattered stone all around them as Sense slowly began to lose her advantage. Her figure seemed to cower as the Potters' grew, their spells rotating through fire and death, until suddenly Septimus appeared next to his sister. His hail of sickle shaped blades bit deep into Harry causing him to stumble and fall away momentarily.

"But how," Hermione said wonderingly as the load she carried intensified under the duel onslaught.

"Pain is also an emotion," Septimus said nastily. "And the bond forged by blood has already faded."

"Naive," Sense cackled. Fire exploded in a solid ring with Sense as the focal point. The entire room was quickly awash in a firestorm that obscured the vision and forced Hermione and Harry to quickly hide behind a cylindrical shield. It was fortunate that they did so for a split second later some kind of sorcery equivalent of a banishing and levitation charm slammed into them, knocking them aside.

Septimus appeared through the flames, his arm glowing slightly, and bashed them solidly as if he were wearing one of the Light Bearer's old armored arm pieces. The force of the blow connected like an explosion against the cylindrical shield and forced it through the solid stone floor with enough force that had the barrier not been in place both Potters would have assuredly died.

"_Their bodies, they're not just using them as wands, they're transfiguring them to deliver spells directly_," Hermione said.

"_It's strong,_" Harry replied. "_We've got to counter them_."

"_Easier said than done_," Hermione said. She conjured up thick ropes of molten stone with her wand and infused it with a shape that Harry had seen once before. From the pooling liquid fire a great beast emerged, fully formed, with claws and fangs of dripping motes of burning sparks. "_That should buy us some time._"

Unlike the first incarnation of Hermione's fire beast, this one was much more powerful, intelligent, and complete. Its prowess in battle became readily apparent as it launched itself at the two sorcerers who had dropped down from the above floor. Each time it was frozen over it burst free and torrents of chilling water were vaporized before contact could be made. The magma roiled unabated; each time a portion was cooled and hardened it sank into the creature's body and more molten material rose to the surface.

"The dragons are backing off into a holding position," Remus shouted. A cheer went up from the defending werewolves, but it died in their throats as the sound of apparations began popping all around them. Shouts of "Avada Kedavra" and strangled screams were heard as the ranks of the werewolves were suddenly turned into a point blank melee between wizards and mostly defenseless muggles.

Remus found himself opposite two grim looking foreigners, wand drawn, in the midst of utter chaos. He conjured up a small silver shield to deflect their opening salvo and then he was returning curse for curse each spell that came his way. He couldn't block everything, however, and as a result he felt muscles cramp or tendons sever as the variety of quick dirty curses attempted to arrest his movements. The style of his opponents was clearly designed to cripple a strong opponent so that they would be physically weakened and open to a finishing attack.

"Remus, are you all right?" Ron asked. The two wizards that had been assaulting the kindly werewolf collapsed unexpectedly to reveal that Luna had snuck up behind them.

"Not really, but I'll get over it," Remus replied. The three of them looked up at the same time as an unearthly shriek seemed to rend the air in twain. Several dragons fell from the sky as if struck by lightening and a few of the combatants who were closest to the tower likewise knelt over dead.

"What's happening," Ron yelled through the din. Rubble had begun to flake off of the side of the black tower like some kind of great serpent shedding dead scales. From the open wounds left bare by the shedding stone a pitch black miasma poured forth into the air like some kind of evaporation.

"Hermione was afraid of this," Luna shouted back. "Come on Ron, you've got to take me down to the dungeons."

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked as Ron unquestioningly turned to follow Luna.

"The tower has woken up," Luna replied. "We've got to stop it. Get everyone out of here Remus."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Remus wondered aloud to himself.

The battle had been shocked into a bit of a standstill by the outrageous behavior of what had until this point appeared to be an inanimate object. After the initial confusion of attacking wizards appearing in amongst the ranks of the werewolves each side had taken up defensive positions

The stable lines of battle didn't last long. The cracking sounds that accompanied most apparation began to reverberate across the field again as the foreign wizards used their superior mobility to flank the werewolves, attack, and then leap away before anyone could retaliate. Remus directed the defense by instructing the wizards to conjure barriers to stop killing curses, but they were effectively pinned down. Bolts of green magic lanced back and forth from the group of werewolves to points three hundred and sixty degrees around them as they were surrounded and bombarded.

The battlefield seemed to freeze in place yet again as the side of the black tower blew outward forcefully. The thick black vapors that had been pouring forth from all over the tower seemed to take on a more corporeal form and intelligently lashed out against the figures that had emerged from the newly created hole. Remus could clearly make out the forms of Harry and Hermione suspended in the air, wreathed about with magical energies and framed against a background of flame emanating from a beast that seemed to be on their side. The shadowy vapors of the black tower struck out against all four combatants, each of which swatted its attacks away as if they were mere annoyances while focusing on each other.

"Remus," Hermione's voice was carried across the void as if she were standing next to him. Her tired and strained face filled his vision. "The wards are down. Escape now while you still can."

At that moment Remus realized that some enchantment had ensnared him and that realization was all that it took to break him free. All around him others were disappearing as they activated their portkeys. With one final look at the struggle above him he too touched the small bracelet at his wrist and was gone.

"Luna, we're running out of time," Ron yelled as they ran down the halls deep in the bowls of Middle Yard.

"We're almost there," Luna yelled back. Little had she spoken than they rushed headlong into a wide open circular space. In the center, with four great stone guardians towering over it, was a coffin-like crystal box. The entire room was bathed in the soft bluish light that the box glowed with.

"Get ready to apparate," Luna said as she removed a small crystal rod from one of her robe's pockets. "I'm setting the timer for fifteen seconds."

"Timer, what timer?" Ron asked, bewildered. His confusion turned to terror as he saw all four stone giants lurch forward toward Luna with deadly intent the instant her foot fell upon the dais where the crystal box rested.

"Ronald, keep them busy," Luna instructed as she leapt out of the way of the first heavy swiping blow.

Ron was only able to spare her an incredulous glance as she calmly went back to what she was doing, apparently full of confidence in Ron's ability to protect her while she worked. Ron gestured with his wand and the fragments of floor that had shattered from the first onslaught were propelled against the stone behemoths. Under the influence of Ron's spells the shards punched through the solid stone bodies leaving them riddled with holes. Such damage was insufficient to disable them, however, and with a roar the four creatures lurched toward Ron.

Luna shoved the crystal rod into the control panel and twisted the small dial that they had determined set fractions of minutes. The crystals immediately began to move as the countdown began and the box itself took on a brighter glow.

"Ronald, apparate!" Luna yelled. She watched for a second as Ron's form shimmered away and then she too disappeared.

"General, the enemy appears to be retreating," Captain Tigger said. Even from their altitude they could see four points of light glowing brightly in the center of a great magical maelstrom. Without any notice the four figures vanished, almost at the same time. An unnatural stillness washed over everything.

"What's going on down th-" General Tycus asked. He was cut off as the entire world seemed to explode around them. In the blink of an eye the black tower, along with the rest of the charred and burning battlefield, disappeared in a flash of blue light. A huge dome of energy swelled up, slow at first, before expanding in all directions as a massive wave of destruction. The atmosphere burned and to the horror of the General and his Captain the closest wings of reserve dragons were swallowed up in the blast.

"Merlin help us all," Captain Tigger said solemnly.


	13. Chapter 13 – Coup D'etat

Chapter 13 - Coup De'ta

"Was the entire battle just a distraction then?" Hermione asked.

"It doesn't seem reasonable that they would use so much force just to divert our attention," Harry said.

"Whatever their purpose was at Middle Yard, the problem we're facing now is as real as it is dire," Remus replied. He had received word through his channels with the Americans that the English government, in cooperation with the Treaty Force, had launched a full scale attack force to cover the migration of the vampire nation.

"So you're convinced that this assault is taking place right now?" Harry asked.

"The Americans are convinced of it according to my contact," Remus said. "They've consolidated their entire army and are moving to intercept over Greenland."

"What do you intend to do?" Dumbledore asked. He, along with McGonagall, made up the rest of the tiny committee that had hurriedly formed following the total loss of Middle Yard and the subsequent evacuation of its population to the city of ruins, Meadow Down.

"We gave our word," Harry said quietly.

"And we have to stop those sorcerers," Hermione said. "If Fudge is picking a fight with the Americans then that's where they'll be."

"Are you sure this is wise?" McGonagall asked. "It isn't as if you've been able to match them so far and you'll be going alone if we do this."

"Each time we fight with the stone we learn more about its power," Hermione said. McGonagall caught a glint in her eye as she continued. "This time, we'll kill them."

"Then you should hurry," Dumbledore said. He looked grim, but resigned. "If the Americans fight against the Treaty Force they'll surely lose. In such a situation it is impossible to predict what might happen. They might try something desperate."

"And while you're doing that, we'll clean things up here," Ron said. He had stepped up behind Remus along with Luna. "If everyone's looking somewhere else then now is the time to confront the Ministry."

"Fudge will still be heavily guarded," McGonagall said warningly.

"Heavily guarded, maybe," Ron said. "But if Fudge is attacking the Americans then he has to be stretching things thin. There were several wings of dragons at Middle Yard. Most of them were destroyed. He can't be keeping many reserves in dragons or aurors if he's going to fight another nation."

"More importantly, those sorcerers won't be there," Remus said. "This could be our opportunity to cut our problems off at their source."

"Ron, I…," Harry began, but Ron cut him off.

"We're all in this together Harry," Ron said. "You and Hermione just take care of those demon twins. We'll handle things on this end."

"We're counting on you," Hermione said with a small smile. With that, she and Harry disappeared away in silent apparition.

Ron clutched the golden emblem around his neck and a moment later the cracking of apparitions began to sound off as their remaining allies arrived. Everything would be resolved one way or the other.

"General Longstreet, the enemy is aware of our presence and is deploying to the north in an attempt to engage our forces one segment at a time," General Early said. Early's appearance roughly approximated that of Longstreet; an elderly, stiff backed man with a rough grey beard.

"I want you to redeploy the Kentucky and the Arizona militias to intercept their movements," Longstreet replied. "Have the Texas Republican Army move to reinforce the center."

Longstreet looked out across the expanse above the icy ocean waters as the vanguard of the international forces closed in on his position even as two large chunks of his army withdrew for their redeployment to the north. Still, the Texans would be arriving momentarily. That should give him the edge, but until then he resolved to let the enemy come to him. The first shot would be his.

"Introductions are a common courtesy," Longstreet said gruffly into the empty air as he felt a new presence arrive.

"But of course," Septimus said. "I am the Viscount Septimus Artimus. You are the American Supreme Commander General James Longstreet. Introductions made. We demand that you withdraw from your blockade of English territory against English forces."

"It is you who will withdraw," Longstreet retorted. "Any further attempt to relocate vampires or to trespass American sovereign territory will be considered an act of war."

"I know who you are General," Septimus said wickedly. His voice rang out sharply even as he disappeared. "I will look forward to meeting you again, when all your men are dead."

"I hate to say this General, but we're no match for those things," General Hood said disgustedly. Hood made up the last member of a group of ancient looking men, the other two of which were Longstreet and Early, which had been the master minds of American military policy for over a hundred years. "Not when they're backed up by an army of that size."

"We still have one more card to play General," Longstreet replied.

"We can't count on them," Hood said insistently.

"We'll see," Longstreet said placidly. "Regardless, we've got to take this chance now. We won't get another opportunity to stop them. Once those vampires are settled into our midst we'll be decades rooting them out."

"Incoming fire," was yelled out frantically by an anonymous voice. The entire front lines of English and international dragons had let loose a tremendous blast of dragon fire.

"Raise defenses," Longstreet replied with a magically enhanced voice as the searing wave of destruction seared toward them. All along the Americans' lines the earth dragons spewed out a thick spray of muck that smothered the onrushing fire. Smoke, steam, and ash radiated out of a black cloud where the two waves intercepted each other.

From the haze that now obscured the opposing army hundreds of beams of green light began to lance out in blocks as the international forces started using the Killing Curse indiscriminately. Longstreet gave the signal and his own forces began responding in kind, in addition to the continuing flow of earthen projectiles from the dragons.

"General Hood, signal your Morgans," Longstreet commanded. As much as he was uncomfortable with the special force Morgans he had to admit that they would be crucial if they were to succeed in this. "I want this field swept clean."

A dozen small nimble dragons in circular formation dipped down in response to Hood's summon and waved their wands in synchronization. A turbulent shimmering globe formed in front of their formation before propagating outward like a strong wind to clear the smoking haze that separated the two armies from each other's sight.

Immediately one of the groups of American dragons which had been flying at a higher altitude swooped down on the left flank of the sprawling Treaty Force contingent. The Treaty Force wing yielded up ground in recognition of the altitude advantage held by their opponents.

"Now, while they're concentrated," Hood yelled.

"Yes," Longstreet muttered to himself as he watched from his vantage point. "Let's see if you can take this shot old man."

The Morgans pointed their wands toward a single point and cast another spell. A great ball of fire began to build up under their efforts. Just when its heat and roiling surface made it appear as if the sun had been brought down to Earth the spell was unleashed as a massive white hot beam of elemental energy that threatened to burn down a huge portion of the Treaty Force.

Longstreet leaned forward, exultant, as his eyes followed the beam toward its hapless targets. There was a slight shimmer through the optical distortions of the heat as two figures appeared between the international armies and the onrushing torrent of death. Inexplicably, impossibly, the beam of fire turned back in upon itself, reforming into a swirling ball, before rebounding against those who had cast it.

Like travelers in a storm the Morgans surged forward, their wands generating what barriers they could, in an attempt to weather the onslaught. However, it was soon apparent that the sorcerers had added a measure of their own power in addition to returning that which the Americans had created. Three Morgans fell, followed quickly by scores of dragons and their riders who had been unable to avoid being caught up in the backlash.

Undaunted, the Morgans regrouped and swiftly unleashed another blast, this time using a swirl of lightening tinged with shadowy corruption. The spell, however, was choked off before it even made it across the gulf between the opposing armies. It was at this point Longstreet realized that a battle of champions was going to end in their defeat.

"Order a full offensive," Longstreet barked. He drew his wand. "Have the Morgans disperse themselves into the general contingent and do as much damage as they can on an individual basis."

"Sir, even if you fight, we can't stop those monsters," Hood said. "We need to regroup and think of a new strategy."

"We don't have to stop them," Longstreet said. "We have the numbers, we shall overwhelm them, and then when their army is shattered we shall turn the whole of our power on the sorcerers unobstructed and annihilate them!"

Hood nodded thoughtfully. It might work. With the two armies engaged in close combat neither side could use large elemental spells or other means of widespread destruction without committing suicide.

"They're falling for it," Captain Tigger said. The American army was rapidly closing in on their position through a hail of dangerous spell-fire.

"On my signal," General Tycus said into a small crystal timbale shaped communication device. "Deploy!"

Each dragon rider pulled out a long tube full of small devices that resembled muggle fireworks in shape and function. As the two forces approached within point blank range of each other thousands of tiny projectiles snaked out across the narrow divide where they exploded harmlessly. The American dragons rushed through the small amount of smoke generated and had begun to engage in point blank range combat with their enemy when a sensation like a mighty shiver ran down through the entire chaotic line of battle. Each of the tiny projectiles had been designed to look like an implement of confusion when in fact they had housed tiny portkeys. To the American's shock and horror a vast army of shadowy vampires materialized behind them. Inattention to the details of the English war now proved fatal as it had left them unprepared for the tactic.

Caught between the hammer of the strengthened vampire horde and the anvil of the Treaty Force the American army was literally ripped to shreds. With their focus on mage combat the American wizards were unable to adapt to their changed reality quickly enough to stave off the fangs and claws that tore into their exposed flank. Dragons drifted away aimlessly as the bodies of their riders fell like rain into the Atlantic below.

"General Early, regroup your divisions around our position," Longstreet said calmly above the din. Men were shrieking out all around him as he brandished his wand to sweep away whatever enemy he could find. "We must break out and call for reserves."

"My division commanders have stopped communicating," Early replied. "Outgoing portkey and apparation are still impossible."

There was a blast of green light and a shockwave of noise over the battlefield. It was General Hood's signal for full retreat.

"General Hood must think we're dead," Longstreet said grimly. "This makes matters worse."

"He may yet be right," Early replied. He kicked his dragon in the ribs and put it into a dive.

At Hood's signal Longstreet's plans for an orderly retreat had turned into a route. Battle formations that had somehow remained intact crumbled as every dragon rider went into full retreat. The vampires did not pursue, but the Treaty Force took the opportunity to unleash volley after volley of lethal spell-fire on the haphazard retreat of their foe. After stiffly taking losses to close to combat range the Americans had been forced to make similar sacrifices to escape.

"General Hood, what has happened?" Longstreet asked. He had quickly sought out his subordinate as his army attempted to get back in some kind of fighting shape. Both armies had moved out of wand range and were regarding each other for the next phase of the battle. Hood's emergency signal for full retreat had cost them much more than an orderly withdraw and Longstreet wanted answers.

"I've received word from Chairman Van Devanter," Hood said. "The muggle weapon has been deployed."

"What?" Longstreet exclaimed. "We have no idea what effect it will have!"

"Why were we not informed?" Early demanded. He looked quite grim.

"All communications via magical means has been cut off," Hood said. "This message was apparated to the edge of the dispersion field and carried in by dragon. When I received it we only had a few moments."

"When is the weapon due to strike the target?" Longstreet asked.

"Fliers are above us right now," Hood replied. The muggle weapon had to be deployed manually with so much magic in the air.

Longstreet looked out across the ocean to where the Treaty Force had begun to move again. Dragons were lining up like a flying wall and heading toward them in highly disciplined formations, now with vampires fluttering around them. Somewhere above them four dragon flyers labored under the immense load of a heavy box inscribed with dozens of magical symbols. The seals and enchantments were designed to trigger the chain reaction required to produce the vast quantities of energy that the Americans hoped would turn the tide in their favor. The dragons let out exhausted cries and then, at their riders' signals, unclenched their claws.

There was a flash of white light followed by an immense fireball in the midst of the vast formation of dragons. The ocean rebelled violently as a shockwave of superheated air slammed into it before continuing on. The atmosphere roiled and expanded upward from the intense energy.

"This is foolishness," Longstreet muttered. Suddenly the rising cloud produced by the blast stopped moving unnaturally and an instant later it began to fade away as if it had been nothing more than a mirage.

"I'm disappointed," Septimus' magically enhanced voice boomed across the desolate space between the two armies. The Treaty Force continued to advance completely unperturbed as if nothing had happened. "Have you no pride? You should have known that a muggle's metal explosive would have no effect on a wizard."

"If they wanted to see a big explosion, all they needed to do was ask," Sense giggled. She began moving her hands in a circular motion and in front of her a large fireball began to materialize. Several Treaty Force wizards flanked her and added fire to her elemental spell from their wands, mixing the magical forces together until they reached a point where the sorceress could no longer contain them. With a grunt of effort Sense sent the inferno racing toward the beleaguered Americans.

"Raise barriers," Early screamed as many dispirited troops began to put their dragons into another series of desperate evasive maneuvers. Involuntarily General Early cowered back and threw up his arm against the glare in a futile gesture as he braced himself to die.

At the last second he heard the sound of screeching loudly in his ear and looked up to see a great predator bird stoop and dive down from out of the murky sky. As the bird positioned itself between the Americans and the onrushing attack it transformed into a determined looking bushy haired witch. She gritted her teeth and pushed her hands out as the fireball hit. A cone of thick air appeared, dispersing and redirecting the fireball around its intended targets. For several seconds the sky lit up brightly as immense tongues of flame radiated out all around Hermione's barrier.

Both sides looked on in shock at the unexpected disruption. During that time a much slower owl sailed up and transformed into a more recognizable young man with dark hair.

"So," Septimus snarled. He sent a signal for his forces to stop their advance. "The Potters have arrived."

Ronald Weasley looked out over the people that they had assembled for their attack on the Ministry. They had quickly discovered that the Light Bearers lacked sufficient manpower, even after having recalled all the old members that they could, and so he had relied on the twins to hastily fill the ranks with those whom they knew to be sympathetic to the cause. Still, taking in outsiders like this was dangerous and increased the risk of a betrayal significantly. If this were to work, however, they had little choice.

"We don't have much time," Ron said. "So I'll make this simple. While the Ministry is in disorder we're going to break in and remove Minister Fudge from power. This is treason and even if we succeed I can't promise what will happen."

The motley crew assembled shifted slightly, but no one said anything. Looking at them Ron knew that many were muggle born and all had suffered a great deal during the last few years thanks to Fudge's governance.

"If anyone wants out, now is the time," McGonagall said curtly.

"Ain't none of us got nary sympathy for Fudge," one grizzled old man said. "But we ain't daft neither. How da'ya think we're gonna bust into the Ministry of Magic and take out the head of wizarding government?"

"Getting in is the easy part, just leave that to me. Right now Harry is fighting against the Continentals and Fudge's men so the Ministry is relatively unguarded," Ron said. "The only question is: who's with us?"

"Heh, I guess I'm in if that's the case," the old man replied. He turned to the rest of the crowd. "I followed Potter against the Dark Lord, so this oughta be a breeze. Whatta'ya say lads?"

A short cheer went up. Ron looked at all of them and smiled as he remembered Harry's promise. But if his old friend had ever thought that Ron would let him take all the blame, or all the credit depending on how this turned out, he needed to think twice.

"I'm grateful to all of you," Ron said sincerely. McGonagall had begun handing out slips of parchment. "Everyone commit these instructions to memory. We're going to be apparating into place five at a time to lessen our chances of being detected. Once everyone is in place we'll infiltrate the Ministry, secure the Minister, and with any luck bring an end to the war."

"Ronald and I will be going in the first wave," McGonagall said. "The rest of your orders are written out. Time is critical, so if there are any questions ask them quickly."

"Then let us begin," Ron said simply when no one said anything. With a small pop he disappeared along with Luna, McGonagall, and two others.

The point that they apparated to appeared to be an ordinary London alley, but as with most things magical, appearances were deceiving. Ron looked around for a second before spotting a swiftly opening hole in the wall a short distance away from them. McGonagall motioned to the others and together they walked over to the opening and stepped inside. There was a brief sensation of stepping through a lightless void and then they emerged into the brightly lit halls of the Ministry of Magic.

"Welcome, friends," Madam Bones said softly. "I'm sorry it's had to come to this."

"As are we," McGonagall replied.

"Are your allies in place?" Ron asked.

"What few of us there are," Madam Bones said. She gestured to the two aurors behind her. "This is Rose Nelson and Dullus Burnside. I have a few others loyal to England who are prepared to help us."

There were more sounds of feet clicking against stone as additional Light Bearers arrived. In short order the hall was beginning to get a sizeable force and Ron realized that they needed to start moving lest someone spot them too soon.

"Professor, Luna, we've got to go now," Ron said. He turned to Madam Bones. "Keep directing our people as they arrive. Once we've secured the Minister we'll need you to declare yourself."

"I will be there," Madam Bones said.

"We need to hurry," Ron said. He cast a charm that muffled their footfalls as they ran down the halls toward the place where Madam Bones had told them the Minister would be. "Burn down anyone we see."

The Ministry proved to be monstrously large, or at least it seemed to be large, as they ran through the halls, sinking lower and lower toward the fortified offices of the Minster. Despite himself Ron could feel his apprehension growing for every corridor that they crossed without seeing another human or even any evidence that another human had ever been there. The rounded a corner and nearly ran headlong into a short brown haired young witch. Ron stood stock still for a moment looking at her as she stood there terrified, her arms full of papers. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash and suddenly the girl was engulfed in a whirling column of orange flame. She screamed soundlessly for a brief moment and then exploded into ash.

"Don't let your guard down," McGonagall said, peering at him over her spectacles.

"We're almost there," Ron said, ignoring her. He motioned with his hand. No more talking until they encountered dedicated resistance. They went down a winding ramp until they came out in a part of the structure that appeared different than the rest. The floor was made up of large grey blocks of solid stone and the walls were much wider.

"They know we're here," Luna said distantly. Ron felt a chill run through him and decided that she was probably right. The instant they had set foot on the floor they had all felt an imperceptible sense of dread.

"This place isn't finished yet," McGonagall thought to herself. She knew what this feeling was. She had felt it before, in Hogwarts, but the effect here wasn't mature.

She made a gesture and the wizards following them fanned out in the darkness. Together they all rushed forward under the influence of an acceleration charm. The hall was long and dim. It was clearly designed to force them to travel a long distance in the open. Sure enough, they quickly spotted a loose ring of wizards standing in front of a large double door, wands drawn and alert.

There was a flash of green light from somewhere behind her and then they were fighting. McGonagall tossed out several of her best spells as she closed in on them until she managed to slip into their very midst. With a blast of magic expanding in all directions McGonagall dispersed and disoriented the wizards. Before they could recover she blew in the door effortlessly.

"Come on, you men finish things here, we're going ahead," McGonagall said, indicating Luna and Ron.

"Will they be able to hold them off?" Ron asked as they slipped into the hall beyond the door. More wizards and Light Bearers were pouring into the conflict as both sides gained reinforcements.

"Madam Bones will be along shortly," McGonagall said, with a tone that told Ron that the elder lady of state's appearance would be decisive. They accelerated again, this time to a smaller door at the end of a fortified, but mostly empty hall.

There was a flash of green light from their side and Ron quickly recognized the robes of a hit wizard. McGonagall unleashed a torrent of shadowy magic on the evasive figure before sprinting after him.

"I'll handle this one, you two get the Minister," McGonagall snapped.

"Get ready," Ron said to Luna. There was a flash of red light and the door splintered away to reveal three figures about to step through what was obviously a hidden door in the wall.

"Malfoy," Ron snarled. Draco and Lucius Malfoy were both present, as was Minister Fudge.

"Minister, take Draco and go on ahead," Lucius said quietly. "I'll handle the blood traitors and join you shortly."

"Yes, yes, of course," Fudge said nervously. "Come my boy, come along."

Draco flashed a sour scowl toward the two intruders but nevertheless heeded Fudge's plea and ducked into the secret passage after him.

"We can't let them get away," Ron said tersely. "I'll deal with Malfoy, you follow Fudge."

Luna nodded without protest and walked toward the opening to the passageway. Malfoy eyed Ron warily as she approached, her shoulder nearly brushing against his as she passed by.

"Goodbye Mr. Malfoy," Luna said softly. Lucius felt his eyes involuntarily seek out Luna's and for one brief second as she glided past him their sight was locked together. Lucius felt himself freeze with a nameless terror as he stared deep into the bottomless fount of Luna's gaze. His skin felt cold and damp, his breath caught in his throat, and his muscles contracted painfully, but then she was gone abruptly, leaving him alone with Ron.

"I know you killed my father," Ron said flatly once they were alone. His words jarred Lucius back into reality.

"What of it, blood traitor," Malfoy sneered.

"I just wanted you to know why," Ron said. "I wanted you to know why the line of Malfoy is going to end before this day is over. Even if you win, in the end, you lose."

"I know your kind Gryffindor," Malfoy said. "You won't defeat me and you certainly won't kill Draco. He hasn't done anything to you."

"Unexpected things happen in war," Ron said. Malfoy's eyes tightened, as did his grip on his wand. From what he knew of the young Weasley he didn't expect such a threat. Then again, he had personally killed his father and all but personally killed his little sister. He snapped his wand up at the same moment Ron did and the air was filled with dozens of rapid fire magical bursts. The air inside the confined room exploded as they rushed toward each other with deadly intent.

Lucius waved his wand and a large hole immediately gouged into the smooth stone of the wall behind Ron where he sidestepped at the last second to avoid the dangerous curse. Lucius grunted with effort as his hastily conjured shield compressed his arm due to the force of the shattered fragments that Ron was pelting him with.

Ron staggered back as a bright white light slammed into the side of his own shield. He barely had time to defend himself as a pulse of invisible energy slammed into him. He leaned forward, like someone walking into a storm, as Lucius buffeted him with wave after wave of oppressive energy. The air exploded with soundless shockwaves as Ron sent the concentrated breaking spells flowing around him where they chewed up the room mercilessly. He pulled his wand back and swept it forward, his charms raking up the debris of the shattered room and propelling them toward Lucius, hardening and sharpening them as they went.

"I killed the father, I can kill the son," Lucius snarled. His eye darted wildly around the room as a mass of spells began obscuring his vision. He pulverized Ron's attacks as they swarmed in. Stone shattered, curse melted against counter curse, as both opponents circled each other with wands held high.

Ron stumbled as a jinx got through his defenses and suddenly his body was covered in wounds as Lucius tried to rack up as much damage as possible during his moment of vulnerability. Ron conjured a new shield and calmly realigned himself to his target before pointing his wand at his arm and wrenching it back in place. He wished for a moment that he had learned some medical spells as he felt pain wash through his bones. Lucius was looking wilder and more desperate by the moment. Ron could practically feel his fear in every spell he was casting. Unfortunately, Lucius seemed to be like a cornered animal; far more dangerous and unpredictable than normal.

Lucius eyed the youngest remaining Weasley as he moved his wand in small circles. Magical energy built up until he thrust forward sending a spiraling spear of magic crashing down on Ron where it impacted his shield and promptly began to bore through it. Ron winced from the assault, blinking his left eye rapidly as a thick stream of blood from his scalp poured into it. The image of Lucius wavered and Ron realized belatedly that somewhere along the way he had lost his hat along with the restorative potions it contained.

"I can't die here," Ron muttered to himself as he pointed his wand at Malfoy's spell, which was still eating away at his shield. The spell burst apart with considerable force. Razor sharp edges of transfigured destructive magic scattered in every direction. Lucius went to one knee as a corporeal blade of raw magic sliced through his thigh.

Lucius' grip on his wand tightened again and in an instant he was back on his feet. He tapped his shoulder and a thin metal shell of armor slid across his arm. With a flash he hurled his clenched fist at Ron, but he missed, his blow whistling past Ron's head so closely that a new gash opened up along his cheek. Ron dipped under Malfoy's shield charm and released a sickle curse into his body that partially shredded Lucius' exposed side. Malfoy leaped back and away, his shield dropping entirely as his hand went reflexively to his torn and bleeding side. With his wand he slashed angrily sending curses spinning toward the swaying Weasley.

"He transfigured them," Lucius thought with shock. Even Arthur hadn't been able to use that old Weasely technique: Three Step Manipulation. At the edge of magic and reality, transfiguration governed everything except life and death.

"Time to die, blood traitor," Lucius whispered. He had seen enough; he couldn't afford for the fight to go on any longer. Lucius was tempted to use the curse of death against Ron, but he knew that casting such a curse was too risky in his current circumstance. There was too much chance that the young red head would evade the curse and unleash a counter attack. Fortunately, his heritage provided another alternative. Malfoy took a deep breath and summoned the full force of his magic. The end of his wand took on a surreal glow as heavy black vapor dripped from it.

"_Adnihilo Ruina,_" Lucius said. He sagged forward with the strain of releasing such an unstable spell. Ron's eyes widened as he saw the burst of miasma rush toward him as an unstoppable curse taken physical form. He braced himself to die and poured all of his magic into one last defense.

"_Abeo_," Ron shouted with a roar. A corporeal transfiguration spell, the pinnacle of the Weasley family's magical techniques, slammed into Malfoy's curse. Ron gritted his teeth with concentration as his spell warred against Malfoy's curse, attempting to alter it. Ron quickly realized that such a powerful curse was magic that his spell couldn't nullify, but with a flash of insight he knew what he had to do. His counter spell ate into the edges of the curse, reforming it into a loop until it swirled back upon itself.

Lucius didn't even have time to scream as his own spell rebounded onto him violently. He reached out toward the object of his hatred, toward Ron, as his own foul black spell tore through him. Lucius' charred skeleton clattered to the ground, arm outstretched, frozen in his dying position. Ron braced himself against the rough wall as exhaustion threatened to claim him before resolutely pushing himself erect again to chase after Luna.

"No!" Draco yelled. He banged his fists ineffectively on the wall in front of him in frustration. He was in a nasty sub-level room and had made the mistake of allowing Fudge to get a few too many steps ahead of him. The Minister had apparently decided that it was Draco's duty to stay behind and slow down anyone who might be pursuing them.

Draco finally realized that he wasn't going to be able to get through the magical barrier without the secret and so he turned around anxiously. The room was magically lighted, but the tunnel that they had come from had been dark so Draco could do nothing but look into the blackness beyond the chamber and squeeze himself against the side of the wall so that hopefully any approaching attacker would be unable to kill him unseen.

Draco wiped his brow as he strained his senses. Was something coming? Were those footsteps? He could feel the damp air moving past him and his imagination filled in the rest of the details as he stared wide-eyed at the doorway. Abruptly Luna slid into the room, her blonde hair shimmering behind her as she appeared.

Draco let out a squeak and unleashed a wildly aimed hex toward the thin Ravenclaw. Luna's image flickered slightly and the spell seemed to pass through her leaving her unaffected. Draco squirmed back, trying to get distance, as he clumsily cast a variety of spells. Luna flicked her wand effortlessly and swept Draco's spells aside. She pointed her wand at him and twisted it slightly.

"S-stop," Draco said, gurgling uncontrollably. His entire body had gone rigid.

"Why should I stop?" Luna asked. She looked down on him with wide blue eyes. "If I stop, you'll continue the blood feud with the Weasley family, won't you?"

"Anything, I'll do anything," Draco said. Blood had begun to trickle out of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. His mind whirled with unbelieving shock. He was a Malfoy, this couldn't be happening to him. A bully by nature, untested in combat, and soft in resolve, Draco couldn't even muster the cohesion necessary to defend himself.

"I think you're lying," Luna said. Her expression had taken on an uncharacteristic hardness and it was growing colder by the moment. Draco flopped over and started crawling away, leaving a trail of smearing blood in his wake until he finally collapsed. Luna's wand twitched and he flipped over. She leaned close to inspect him, but there was no need. The last of the Malfoy line was dead. Now all she needed to do was find a way to get through the closed passage in front of her.

Fudge emerged into a small well lit room from the emergency tunnel which had sealed itself behind him. The chamber shook slightly, causing dust to fall from the ceiling, as Luna began trying to bash her way inside. Fudge ran over to an array of delicate looking items and quickly activated additional defenses. He had specifically ordered this room built so that he could survive an assassination attempt long enough for reinforcements to arrive. He had also included special communication devices so that he could summon such reinforcements.

"Is anyone there?" Fudge said as he picked up a carved piece of wood inlaid with crystal receivers. "This is the Minister of Magic calling any loyal forces within range of Ministry Headquarters; we are under attack, repeat, under attack."

"They can't hear you Cornelius," a voice said. Fudge whirled around, his hands fumbling ineffectively for his wand, as terror griped him.

"You!" Fudge exclaimed. "How did you get in here? Nothing can get in here except for me."

"You should know that anything magic does can be undone by other magic," Madam Bones said. The elder Wizengamot member was flanked by her two allies, Nora Nodding and Sef Workenberger. All three had their wands trained on Fudge.

"Traitors," Fudge spat out.

"The only traitor here is you," Madam Bones said harshly. "You've brought foreign armies into our country and used them against our own people. You're nothing but a murderer and a tyrant."

"We're taking back England," Nora added.

"What should we do with him?" Sef asked.

"There's only one thing to be done," Madam Bones said. She drew back her wand and uttered the deadly words. A green beam of light slammed into Fudge sending him crashing to the ground. Her lips snarled into a twisted grin of satisfaction. "He was too dangerous to live."

The other two nodded silently as Madam Bones strode to the communication device and lifted the enchantment that had silenced it. The other two members of the Wizengamot disabled the security on the passageway and allowed an exhausted looking Ron walk in along with Luna.

"Attention all personnel, attention, this is Minister of Magic Amelia Bones," Madam Bones said, her voice coming in loudly throughout the Ministry. "All Ministry personnel are ordered to stand down. The war is over. All persons loyal to England are ordered to holster their wands immediately and wait for further instructions."

"Switch me over to external communications," Madam Bones snapped. Sef manipulated some of the controls on the magical machinery before giving her the go ahead.

"This is Minister of Magic Amelia Bones calling all forces under color of English authority," Madam Bones said tersely.

"Acknowledged," came the reply. "Where is Minister Fudge?"

"Minister Fudge is dead," Madam Bones said. "By order of the Wizengamot all armies are to stand down. War powers are rescinded immediately and unconditionally. Do you acknowledge?"

"Madam Minister, acknowledgement given," the voice snapped, but was cut off.

"This is General Tycus, I demand an explanation," a new voice said.

"Minister Fudge exceeded his authority and attempted to take over the government," Madam Bones said. "He has been issuing illegal orders under the authority granted to him by English law and accordingly the Wizengamot has removed him. Now stand down General."

"I'm sorry ma'am," Tycus said. "The treaty is still in effect. The enemy has been engaged. I cannot discontinue the attack on my own authorization."

"Then do it on mine," Madam Bones hissed. The transmission went dead.

"Are they stopping?" Ron demanded.

"I don't think so," Madam Bones said. "What's the situation here?"

"We've got reports coming in from every department," Sef said. "Most of the fighting has stopped. I think we're in control here."

"Good, have our people placed in every important position," Madam Bones said. "I want those loyal to Cornelius put in detention and their wands confiscated."

Madam Bones turned to Ron, who had caught up with Luna and entered through the now open passage that the Minster had tried to flee through. Madam Bones wore a decidedly triumphant expression.

"The Ministry is ours," she exclaimed.

"For now, but whether it stays that way will depend on who comes back from the Atlantic," Ron replied. He grasped the emblem around his neck tightly and outside the Ministry their remaining forces began to arrive to prepare for the possibility of a siege.

"In the mean time I want you two to open communication with our forces," Madam Bones said. "We've got to stop this before it gets any more out of hand."


End file.
